Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): Morphological transformation of galaxies across the green valley

Science.gov (United States)

Bremer, M. N.; Phillipps, S.; Kelvin, L. S.; De Propris, R.; Kennedy, Rebecca; Moffett, Amanda J.; Bamford, S.; Davies, L. J. M.; Driver, S. P.; Häußler, B.; Holwerda, B.; Hopkins, A.; James, P. A.; Liske, J.; Percival, S.; Taylor, E. N.

2018-05-01

We explore constraints on the joint photometric and morphological evolution of typical low redshift galaxies as they move from the blue cloud through the green valley and on to the red sequence. We select Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey galaxies with 10.25 sensitive K-band profiles of red and green galaxy populations are very similar while g-band profiles indicate more disc-like morphologies for the green galaxies: apparent (optical) morphological differences arise primarily from radial mass-to-light ratio variations. Two-component fits show that most green galaxies have significant bulge and disc components and that the blue to red evolution is driven by colour change in the disc. Together, these strongly suggest that galaxies evolve from blue to red through secular disc fading and that a strong bulge is present prior to any decline in star formation. The relative abundance of the green population implies a typical time-scale for traversing the green valley ˜1-2 Gyr and is independent of environment, unlike that of the red and blue populations. While environment likely plays a rôle in triggering the passage across the green valley, it appears to have little effect on time taken. These results are consistent with a green valley population dominated by (early type) disc galaxies that are insufficiently supplied with gas to maintain previous levels of disc star formation, eventually attaining passive colours. No single event is needed to quench their star formation.

GREEN GALAXIES IN THE COSMOS FIELD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan, Zhizheng; Kong, Xu; Fan, Lulu

2013-01-01

We present research on the morphologies, spectra, and environments of ≈2350 'green valley' galaxies at 0.2 + color is used to define 'green valley'; it removes dusty star-forming galaxies from galaxies that are truly transitioning between the blue cloud and the red sequence. Morphological parameters of green galaxies are intermediate between those of blue and red galaxy populations, both on the Gini-asymmetry and the Gini-M 20 planes. Approximately 60%-70% of green disk galaxies have intermediate or big bulges, and only 5%-10% are pure disk systems, based on morphological classification using the Zurich Estimator of Structural Types. The obtained average spectra of green galaxies are intermediate between blue and red ones in terms of [O II], Hα, and Hβ emission lines. Stellar population synthesis on the average spectra shows that green galaxies are on average older than blue galaxies but younger than red galaxies. Green galaxies and blue galaxies have similar projected galaxy density (Σ 10 ) distributions at z > 0.7. At z * 10.0 M ☉ green galaxies located in a dense environment are found to be significantly larger than those of blue galaxies. The morphological and spectral properties of green galaxies are consistent with the transitioning population between the blue cloud and the red sequence. The possible mechanisms for quenching star formation activities in green galaxies are discussed. The importance of active galactic nucleus feedback cannot be well constrained in our study. Finally, our findings suggest that environmental conditions, most likely starvation and harassment, significantly affect the transformation of M * 10.0 M ☉ blue galaxies into red galaxies, especially at z < 0.5

EXPLORING THE z = 3-4 MASSIVE GALAXY POPULATION WITH ZFOURGE: THE PREVALENCE OF DUSTY AND QUIESCENT GALAXIES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Spitler, Lee R.; Rees, Glen [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109 (Australia); Straatman, Caroline M. S.; Labbé, Ivo [Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden (Netherlands); Glazebrook, Karl; Kacprzak, Glenn G.; Nanayakkara, Themiya [Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University, Hawthorn, VIC 3122 (Australia); Tran, Kim-Vy H.; Papovich, Casey; Kawinwanichakij, Lalitwadee; Mehrtens, Nicola; Tilvi, Vithal; Tomczak, Adam R. [George P. and Cynthia W. Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843 (United States); Quadri, Ryan F.; Persson, S. Eric; Kelson, Daniel D.; McCarthy, Patrick J.; Monson, Andrew J. [Carnegie Observatories, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States); Van Dokkum, Pieter [Department of Astronomy, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520 (United States); Allen, Rebecca, E-mail: lee.spitler@mq.edu.au [Australian Astronomical Observatory, P.O. Box 296 Epping, NSW 1710 (Australia)

2014-06-01

Our understanding of the redshift z > 3 galaxy population relies largely on samples selected using the popular ''dropout'' technique, typically consisting of UV-bright galaxies with blue colors and prominent Lyman breaks. As it is currently unknown if these galaxies are representative of the massive galaxy population, we here use the FOURSTAR Galaxy Evolution (ZFOURGE) survey to create a stellar mass-limited sample at z = 3-4. Uniquely, ZFOURGE uses deep near-infrared medium-bandwidth filters to derive accurate photometric redshifts and stellar population properties. The mass-complete sample consists of 57 galaxies with log M >10.6, reaching below M {sup *} at z = 3-4. On average, the massive z = 3-4 galaxies are extremely faint in the observed optical with median R{sub tot}{sup AB}=27.48±0.41 (rest-frame M {sub 1700} = –18.05 ± 0.37). They lie far below the UV luminosity-stellar mass relation for Lyman break galaxies and are about ∼100 × fainter at the same mass. The massive galaxies are red (R – K {sub s} {sub AB} = 3.9 ± 0.2; rest-frame UV-slope β = –0.2 ± 0.3) likely from dust or old stellar ages. We classify the galaxy spectral energy distributions by their rest-frame U–V and V–J colors and find a diverse population: 46{sub −6−17}{sup +6+10}% of the massive galaxies are quiescent, 40{sub −6−5}{sup +6+7}% are dusty star-forming galaxies, and only 14{sub −3−4}{sup +3+10}% resemble luminous blue star-forming Lyman break galaxies. This study clearly demonstrates an inherent diversity among massive galaxies at higher redshift than previously known. Furthermore, we uncover a reservoir of dusty star-forming galaxies with 4 × lower specific star-formation rates compared to submillimeter-selected starbursts at z > 3. With 5 × higher numbers, the dusty galaxies may represent a more typical mode of star formation compared to submillimeter-bright starbursts.

THE MID-INFRARED AND NEAR-ULTRAVIOLET EXCESS EMISSIONS OF QUIESCENT GALAXIES ON THE RED SEQUENCE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ko, Jongwan; Lee, Jong Chul; Hwang, Ho Seong; Sohn, Young-Jong

2013-01-01

We study the mid-infrared (IR) and near-ultraviolet (UV) excess emissions of spectroscopically selected quiescent galaxies on the optical red sequence. We use the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mid-IR and Galaxy Evolution Explorer near-UV data for a spectroscopic sample of galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 to study the possible connection between quiescent red-sequence galaxies with and without mid-IR/near-UV excess. Among 648 12 μm detected quiescent red-sequence galaxies without Hα emission, 26% and 55% show near-UV and mid-IR excess emissions, respectively. When we consider only bright (M r n 4000 than those without mid-IR and near-UV excess emissions. We also find that mid-IR weighted mean stellar ages of quiescent red-sequence galaxies with mid-IR excess are larger than those with near-UV excess, and smaller than those without mid-IR and near-UV excess. The environmental dependence of the fraction of quiescent red-sequence galaxies with mid-IR and near-UV excess seems strong even though the trends of quiescent red-sequence galaxies with near-UV excess differ from those with mid-IR excess. These results indicate that the recent star formation traced by near-UV (∼< 1 Gyr) and mid-IR (∼< 2 Gyr) excess is not negligible among nearby, quiescent, red, early-type galaxies. We suggest a possible evolutionary scenario of quiescent red-sequence galaxies from quiescent red-sequence galaxies with near-UV excess to those with mid-IR excess to those without near-UV and mid-IR excess.

THE STAR FORMATION HISTORIES OF RED-SEQUENCE GALAXIES, MASS-TO-LIGHT RATIOS AND THE FUNDAMENTAL PLANE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allanson, Steven P.; Hudson, Michael J.; Smith, Russell J.; Lucey, John R.

2009-01-01

This paper addresses the challenge of understanding the typical star formation histories of red-sequence galaxies, using linestrength indices and mass-to-light ratios as complementary constraints on their stellar age distribution. We first construct simple parametric models of the star formation history that bracket a range of scenarios, and fit these models to the linestrength indices of low-redshift cluster red-sequence galaxies. For giant galaxies, we confirm the downsizing trend, i.e., the stellar populations are younger, on average, for lower σ galaxies. We find, however, that this trend flattens or reverses at σ ∼ -1 . We then compare predicted stellar mass-to-light ratios with dynamical mass-to-light ratios derived from the fundamental plane (FP), or by the SAURON group. For galaxies with σ ∼ 70 km s -1 , models with a late 'frosting' of young stars and models with exponential star formation histories have stellar mass-to-light ratios that are larger than observed dynamical mass-to-light ratios by factors of 1.7 and 1.4, respectively, and so are rejected. The single stellar population (SSP) model is consistent with the FP, and requires a modest amount of dark matter (between 20% and 30%) to account for the difference between stellar and dynamical mass-to-light ratios. A model in which star formation was 'quenched' at intermediate ages is also consistent with the observations, although in this case less dark matter is required for low mass galaxies. We also find that the contribution of stellar populations to the 'tilt' of the fundamental plane is highly dependent on the assumed star formation history: for the SSP model, the tilt of the FP is driven primarily by stellar-population effects. For a quenched model, two-thirds of the tilt is due to stellar populations and only one-third is due to dark matter or non-homology.

GREEN GALAXIES IN THE COSMOS FIELD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pan, Zhizheng; Kong, Xu; Fan, Lulu, E-mail: panzz@mail.ustc.edu.cn, E-mail: xkong@ustc.edu.cn [Center of Astrophysics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026 (China)

2013-10-10

We present research on the morphologies, spectra, and environments of ≈2350 'green valley' galaxies at 0.2 < z < 1.0 in the COSMOS field. The bimodality of dust-corrected NUV–r {sup +} color is used to define 'green valley'; it removes dusty star-forming galaxies from galaxies that are truly transitioning between the blue cloud and the red sequence. Morphological parameters of green galaxies are intermediate between those of blue and red galaxy populations, both on the Gini-asymmetry and the Gini-M{sub 20} planes. Approximately 60%-70% of green disk galaxies have intermediate or big bulges, and only 5%-10% are pure disk systems, based on morphological classification using the Zurich Estimator of Structural Types. The obtained average spectra of green galaxies are intermediate between blue and red ones in terms of [O II], Hα, and Hβ emission lines. Stellar population synthesis on the average spectra shows that green galaxies are on average older than blue galaxies but younger than red galaxies. Green galaxies and blue galaxies have similar projected galaxy density (Σ{sub 10}) distributions at z > 0.7. At z < 0.7, the fractions of M{sub *} < 10{sup 10.0} M{sub ☉} green galaxies located in a dense environment are found to be significantly larger than those of blue galaxies. The morphological and spectral properties of green galaxies are consistent with the transitioning population between the blue cloud and the red sequence. The possible mechanisms for quenching star formation activities in green galaxies are discussed. The importance of active galactic nucleus feedback cannot be well constrained in our study. Finally, our findings suggest that environmental conditions, most likely starvation and harassment, significantly affect the transformation of M{sub *} < 10{sup 10.0} M{sub ☉} blue galaxies into red galaxies, especially at z < 0.5.

EVIDENCE FOR (AND AGAINST) PROGENITOR BIAS IN THE SIZE GROWTH OF COMPACT RED GALAXIES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Keating, Stephanie K.; Abraham, Roberto G. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4 (Canada); Schiavon, Ricardo [Gemini Observatory, 670 North A' ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720 (United States); Graves, Genevieve [Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Damjanov, Ivana [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Yan, Renbin [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky, 505 Rose Street, Lexington, KY 40506-0055 (United States); Newman, Jeffrey [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, 3941 O' Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Simard, Luc [National Research Council of Canada, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7 (Canada)

2015-01-01

Most massive, passive galaxies are compact at high redshifts, but similarly compact massive galaxies are rare in the local universe. The most common interpretation of this phenomenon is that massive galaxies have grown in size by a factor of about five since redshift z = 2. An alternative explanation is that recently quenched massive galaxies are larger (a {sup p}rogenitor bias{sup )}. In this paper, we explore the importance of progenitor bias by looking for systematic differences in the stellar populations of compact early-type galaxies in the DEEP2 survey as a function of size. Our analysis is based on applying the statistical technique of bootstrap resampling to constrain differences in the median ages of our samples and to begin to characterize the distribution of stellar populations in our co-added spectra. The light-weighted ages of compact early-type galaxies at redshifts 0.5 < z < 1.4 are compared to those of a control sample of larger galaxies at similar redshifts. We find that massive compact early-type galaxies selected on the basis of red color and high bulge-to-total ratio are younger than similarly selected larger galaxies, suggesting that size growth in these objects is not driven mainly by progenitor bias, and that individual galaxies grow as their stellar populations age. However, compact early-type galaxies selected on the basis of image smoothness and high bulge-to-total ratio are older than a control sample of larger galaxies. Progenitor bias will play a significant role in defining the apparent size changes of early-type galaxies if they are selected on the basis of the smoothness of their light distributions.

RED SUPERGIANTS AS COSMIC ABUNDANCE PROBES: THE SCULPTOR GALAXY NGC 300

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gazak, J. Zachary; Kudritzki, Rolf; Bresolin, Fabio; Evans, Chris; Patrick, Lee; Davies, Ben; Bergemann, Maria; Plez, Bertrand; Bender, Ralf; Wegner, Michael; Bonanos, Alceste Z.; Williams, Stephen J.

2015-01-01

We present a quantitative spectroscopic study of 27 red supergiants (RSGs) in the Sculptor Galaxy NGC 300. J-band spectra were obtained using KMOS on the Very Large Telescope and studied with state of the art synthetic spectra including NLTE corrections for the strongest diagnostic lines. We report a central metallicity of [Z] = −0.03 ± 0.05 with a gradient of −0.083 ± 0.014 [dex/kpc], in agreement with previous studies of blue supergiants and H ii-region auroral line measurements. This result marks the first application of the J-band spectroscopic method to a population of individual RSG stars beyond the Local Group of galaxies and reveals the great potential of this technique

THE NATURE OF EXTREMELY RED H - [4.5] > 4 GALAXIES REVEALED WITH SEDS AND CANDELS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caputi, K. I.; Dunlop, J. S.; McLure, R. J.; Cirasuolo, M. [SUPA, Institute for Astronomy, The University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ (United Kingdom); Huang, J.-S.; Fazio, G. G.; Ashby, M. L. N. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Castellano, M.; Fontana, A. [INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Via Frascati 33, I-00040 Monteporzio (Italy); Almaini, O. [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD (United Kingdom); Bell, E. F. [Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Dickinson, M. [National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States); Donley, J. L.; Ferguson, H. C.; Grogin, N. A.; Koekemoer, A. M. [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Faber, S. M.; Kocevski, D. D.; Koo, D. C. [University of California Observatories/Lick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Giavalisco, M., E-mail: karina@astro.rug.nl [Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 (United States); and others

2012-05-01

We have analyzed a sample of 25 extremely red H - [4.5] > 4 galaxies, selected using 4.5 {mu}m data from the Spitzer SEDS survey and deep H-band data from the Hubble Space Telescope CANDELS survey, over {approx}180 arcmin{sup 2} of the UKIDSS Ultra-Deep Survey field. Our aim is to investigate the nature of this rare population of mid-infrared (mid-IR) sources that display such extreme near-to-mid-IR colors. Using up to 17-band photometry (U through 8.0 {mu}m), we have studied in detail their spectral energy distributions, including possible degeneracies in the photometric redshift/internal extinction (z{sub phot}-A{sub V} ) plane. Our sample appears to include sources of very different nature. Between 45% and 75% of them are dust-obscured, massive galaxies at 3 < z{sub phot} < 5. All of the 24 {mu}m detected sources in our sample are in this category. Two of these have S(24 {mu}m)>300 {mu}Jy, which at 3 < z{sub phot} < 5 suggests that they probably host a dust-obscured active galactic nucleus. Our sample also contains four highly obscured (A{sub V} > 5) sources at z{sub phot} < 1. Finally, we analyze in detail two z{sub phot} {approx} 6 galaxy candidates, and discuss their plausibility and implications. Overall, our red galaxy sample contains the tip of the iceberg of a larger population of z > 3 galaxies to be discovered with the future James Webb Space Telescope.

Probing the Dusty Stellar Populations of the Local Volume Galaxies with JWST /MIRI

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jones, Olivia C.; Meixner, Margaret [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21218 (United States); Justtanont, Kay [Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology, Onsala Space Observatory, SE-439 92 Onsala (Sweden); Glasse, Alistair [UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ (United Kingdom)

2017-05-20

The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) for the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) will revolutionize our understanding of infrared stellar populations in the Local Volume. Using the rich Spitzer -IRS spectroscopic data set and spectral classifications from the Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution (SAGE)–Spectroscopic survey of more than 1000 objects in the Magellanic Clouds, the Grid of Red Supergiant and Asymptotic Giant Branch Star Model (grams), and the grid of YSO models by Robitaille et al., we calculate the expected flux densities and colors in the MIRI broadband filters for prominent infrared stellar populations. We use these fluxes to explore the JWST /MIRI colors and magnitudes for composite stellar population studies of Local Volume galaxies. MIRI color classification schemes are presented; these diagrams provide a powerful means of identifying young stellar objects, evolved stars, and extragalactic background galaxies in Local Volume galaxies with a high degree of confidence. Finally, we examine which filter combinations are best for selecting populations of sources based on their JWST colors.

The hELENa project - I. Stellar populations of early-type galaxies linked with local environment and galaxy mass

Science.gov (United States)

Sybilska, A.; Lisker, T.; Kuntschner, H.; Vazdekis, A.; van de Ven, G.; Peletier, R.; Falcón-Barroso, J.; Vijayaraghavan, R.; Janz, J.

2017-09-01

We present the first in a series of papers in The role of Environment in shaping Low-mass Early-type Nearby galaxies (hELENa) project. In this paper, we combine our sample of 20 low-mass early types (dEs) with 258 massive early types (ETGs) from the ATLAS3D survey - all observed with the SAURON integral field unit - to investigate early-type galaxies' stellar population scaling relations and the dependence of the population properties on local environment, extended to the low-σ regime of dEs. The ages in our sample show more scatter at lower σ values, indicative of less massive galaxies being affected by the environment to a higher degree. The shape of the age-σ relations for cluster versus non-cluster galaxies suggests that cluster environment speeds up the placing of galaxies on the red sequence. While the scaling relations are tighter for cluster than for the field/group objects, we find no evidence for a difference in average population characteristics of the two samples. We investigate the properties of our sample in the Virgo cluster as a function of number density (rather than simple clustrocentric distance) and find that dE ages correlate with the local density such that galaxies in regions of lower density are younger, likely because they are later arrivals to the cluster or have experienced less pre-processing in groups, and consequently used up their gas reservoir more recently. Overall, dE properties correlate more strongly with density than those of massive ETGs, which was expected as less massive galaxies are more susceptible to external influences.

Investigating a method of producing "red and dead" galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Skory, Stephen

2010-08-01

In optical wavelengths, galaxies are observed to be either red or blue. The overall color of a galaxy is due to the distribution of the ages of its stellar population. Galaxies with currently active star formation appear blue, while those with no recent star formation at all (greater than about a Gyr) have only old, red stars. This strong bimodality has lead to the idea of star formation quenching, and various proposed physical mechanisms. In this dissertation, I attempt to reproduce with Enzo the results of Naab et al. (2007), in which red and dead galaxies are formed using gravitational quenching, rather than with one of the more typical methods of quenching. My initial attempts are unsuccessful, and I explore the reasons why I think they failed. Then using simpler methods better suited to Enzo + AMR, I am successful in producing a galaxy that appears to be similar in color and formation history to those in Naab et al. However, quenching is achieved using unphysically high star formation efficiencies, which is a different mechanism than Naab et al. suggests. Preliminary results of a much higher resolution, follow-on simulation of the above show some possible contradiction with the results of Naab et al. Cold gas is streaming into the galaxy to fuel starbursts, while at a similar epoch the galaxies in Naab et al. have largely already ceased forming stars in the galaxy. On the other hand, the results of the high resolution simulation are qualitatively similar to other works in the literature that show a somewhat different gravitational quenching mechanism than Naab et al. I also discuss my work using halo finders to analyze simulated cosmological data, and my work improving the Enzo/AMR analysis tool "yt". This includes two parallelizations of the halo finder HOP (Eisenstein and Hut, 1998) which allows analysis of very large cosmological datasets on parallel machines. The first version is "yt-HOP," which works well for datasets between about 2563 and 5123 particles

Spatial and kinematic distributions of transition populations in intermediate redshift galaxy clusters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crawford, Steven M.; Wirth, Gregory D.; Bershady, Matthew A.

2014-01-01

We analyze the spatial and velocity distributions of confirmed members in five massive clusters of galaxies at intermediate redshift (0.5 < z < 0.9) to investigate the physical processes driving galaxy evolution. Based on spectral classifications derived from broad- and narrow-band photometry, we define four distinct galaxy populations representing different evolutionary stages: red sequence (RS) galaxies, blue cloud (BC) galaxies, green valley (GV) galaxies, and luminous compact blue galaxies (LCBGs). For each galaxy class, we derive the projected spatial and velocity distribution and characterize the degree of subclustering. We find that RS, BC, and GV galaxies in these clusters have similar velocity distributions, but that BC and GV galaxies tend to avoid the core of the two z ≈ 0.55 clusters. GV galaxies exhibit subclustering properties similar to RS galaxies, but their radial velocity distribution is significantly platykurtic compared to the RS galaxies. The absence of GV galaxies in the cluster cores may explain their somewhat prolonged star-formation history. The LCBGs appear to have recently fallen into the cluster based on their larger velocity dispersion, absence from the cores of the clusters, and different radial velocity distribution than the RS galaxies. Both LCBG and BC galaxies show a high degree of subclustering on the smallest scales, leading us to conclude that star formation is likely triggered by galaxy-galaxy interactions during infall into the cluster.

Pulsating red giants and supergiants as probes of galaxy formation and evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Theodorus van Loon, Jacco; Javadi, Atefeh; Khosroshahi, Habib; Rezaei, Sara; Golshan, Roya; Saberi, Maryam

2015-08-01

We have developed new techniques to use pulsating red giant and supergiants stars to reconstruct the star formation history of galaxies over cosmological time, as well as using them to map the dust production across their host galaxies. We describe the large programme on the Local Group spiral galaxy Triangulum (M33), which we have monitored at near-infrared wavelengths for several years using the United Kingdom InfraRed Telescope in Hawai'i. We outline the methodology and present the results for the central square kiloparsec (Javadi et al. 2011a,b, 2013) and - fresh from the press - the disc of M33 (Javadi et al. 2015, and in preparation). We also describe the results from our application of this new technique to other nearby galaxies: the Magellanic Clouds (published in Rezaei et al. 2014), the dwarf galaxies NGC 147 and 185 (Golshan et al. in preparation), and Centaurus A.

Cosmological information in the intrinsic alignments of luminous red galaxies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chisari, Nora Elisa [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, 4 Ivy Lane, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Dvorkin, Cora, E-mail: nchisari@astro.princeton.edu, E-mail: cdvorkin@ias.edu [Institute for Advanced Study, School of Natural Sciences, Einstein Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540 (United States)

2013-12-01

The intrinsic alignments of galaxies are usually regarded as a contaminant to weak gravitational lensing observables. The alignment of Luminous Red Galaxies, detected unambiguously in observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, can be reproduced by the linear tidal alignment model of Catelan, Kamionkowski and Blandford (2001) on large scales. In this work, we explore the cosmological information encoded in the intrinsic alignments of red galaxies. We make forecasts for the ability of current and future spectroscopic surveys to constrain local primordial non-Gaussianity and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) in the cross-correlation function of intrinsic alignments and the galaxy density field. For the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, we find that the BAO signal in the intrinsic alignments is marginally significant with a signal-to-noise ratio of 1.8 and 2.2 with the current LOWZ and CMASS samples of galaxies, respectively, and increasing to 2.3 and 2.7 once the survey is completed. For the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument and for a spectroscopic survey following the EUCLID redshift selection function, we find signal-to-noise ratios of 12 and 15, respectively. Local type primordial non-Gaussianity, parametrized by f{sub NL} = 10, is only marginally significant in the intrinsic alignments signal with signal-to-noise ratios < 2 for the three surveys considered.

POST-MERGER SIGNATURES OF RED-SEQUENCE GALAXIES IN RICH ABELL CLUSTERS AT z ∼< 0.1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sheen, Yun-Kyeong; Yi, Sukyoung K.; Lee, Jaehyun; Ree, Chang H.

2012-01-01

We have investigated the post-merger signatures of red-sequence galaxies in rich Abell clusters at z ∼ r < –20) cluster red-sequence galaxies show post-merger signatures in four clusters consistently. Most (∼71%) of the featured galaxies were found to be bulge dominated, and for the subsample of bulge-dominated red-sequence galaxies, the post-merger fraction rises to ∼38%. We also found that roughly 4% of bulge-dominated red-sequence galaxies interact (ongoing merger). A total of 42% (38% post-merger, 4% ongoing merger) of galaxies show merger-related features. Compared to a field galaxy study with a similar limiting magnitude by van Dokkum in 2005, our cluster study presents a similar post-merger fraction but a markedly lower ongoing merger fraction. The merger fraction derived is surprisingly high for the high density of our clusters, where the fast internal motions of galaxies are thought to play a negative role in galaxy mergers. The fraction of post-merger and ongoing merger galaxies can be explained as follows. Most of the post-merger galaxies may have carried over their merger features from their previous halo environment, whereas interacting galaxies interact in the current cluster in situ. According to our semi-analytic calculation, massive cluster halos may very well have experienced tens of halo mergers over the last 4-5 Gyr; post-merger features last that long, allowing these features to be detected in our clusters today. The apparent lack of dependence of the merger fraction on the clustocentric distance is naturally explained this way. In this scenario, the galaxy morphology and properties can be properly interpreted only when the halo evolution characteristics are understood first.

Digging for red nuggets: discovery of hot halos surrounding massive, compact, relic galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Werner, N.; Lakhchaura, K.; Canning, R. E. A.; Gaspari, M.; Simionescu, A.

2018-04-01

We present the results of Chandra X-ray observations of the isolated, massive, compact, relic galaxies MRK 1216 and PGC 032873. Compact massive galaxies observed at z > 2, also called red nuggets, formed in quick dissipative events and later grew by dry mergers into the local giant ellipticals. Due to the stochastic nature of mergers, a few of the primordial massive galaxies avoided the mergers and remained untouched over cosmic time. We find that the hot atmosphere surrounding MRK 1216 extends far beyond the stellar population and has an 0.5-7 keV X-ray luminosity of LX = (7.0 ± 0.2) × 1041 erg s-1, which is similar to the nearby X-ray bright giant ellipticals. The hot gas has a short central cooling time of ˜50 Myr and the galaxy has a ˜13 Gyr old stellar population. The presence of an X-ray atmosphere with a short nominal cooling time and the lack of young stars indicate the presence of a sustained heating source, which prevented star formation since the dissipative origin of the galaxy 13 Gyrs ago. The central temperature peak and the presence of radio emission in the core of the galaxy indicate that the heating source is radio-mechanical AGN feedback. Given that both MRK 1216 and PGC 032873 appear to have evolved in isolation, the order of magnitude difference in their current X-ray luminosity could be traced back to a difference in the ferocity of the AGN outbursts in these systems. Finally, we discuss the potential connection between the presence of hot halos around such massive galaxies and the growth of super/over-massive black holes via chaotic cold accretion.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL DEPENDENCE OF THE FRACTION OF 'UNCONVENTIONAL' GALAXIES: RED LATE TYPES AND BLUE EARLY TYPES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng Xinfa; He Jizhou; Wu Ping; Ding Yingping

2009-01-01

From the Main galaxy sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 6, we construct two volume-limited samples with the luminosity -20.0 ≤ M r ≤ -18.5 and -22.40 ≤ M r ≤ -20.16, respectively, to explore the environmental dependence of the fraction of 'unconventional' galaxies: red late types and blue early types. We use the density estimator within the distance to the fifth nearest neighbor, and construct two samples at both extremes of density and perform comparative studies between them for each volume-limited sample. Results of two volume-limited samples show the same conclusions: the fraction of red late-type galaxies rises considerably with increasing local density, and that one of the blue early-type galaxies declines substantially with increasing local density. In addition, we note that bluer galaxies preferentially are late types, but the red galaxies are not dominated by early types.

MORPHOLOGICAL QUENCHING OF STAR FORMATION: MAKING EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES RED

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martig, Marie; Bournaud, Frederic; Teyssier, Romain; Dekel, Avishai

2009-01-01

We point out a natural mechanism for quenching of star formation in early-type galaxies (ETGs). It automatically links the color of a galaxy with its morphology and does not require gas consumption, removal or termination of gas supply. Given that star formation takes place in gravitationally unstable gas disks, it can be quenched when a disk becomes stable against fragmentation to bound clumps. This can result from the growth of a stellar spheroid, for instance by mergers. We present the concept of morphological quenching (MQ) using standard disk instability analysis, and demonstrate its natural occurrence in a cosmological simulation using an efficient zoom-in technique. We show that the transition from a stellar disk to a spheroid can be sufficient to stabilize the gas disk, quench star formation, and turn an ETG red and dead while gas accretion continues. The turbulence necessary for disk stability can be stirred up by sheared perturbations within the disk in the absence of bound star-forming clumps. While other quenching mechanisms, such as gas stripping, active galactic nucleus feedback, virial shock heating, and gravitational heating are limited to massive halos, MQ can explain the appearance of red ETGs also in halos less massive than ∼10 12 M sun . The dense gas disks observed in some of today's red ellipticals may be the relics of this mechanism, whereas red galaxies with quenched gas disks could be more frequent at high redshift.

The present-day galaxy population in spiral galaxies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Peletier, Reynier; Antonelli, LA; Limongi, M; Menci, N; Tornambe, A; Brocato, E; Raimondo, G

2009-01-01

Although there are many more stellar population studies of elliptical and lenticular galaxies, studies of spiral galaxies are catching up, due to higher signal to noise data on one hand, and better analysis methods on the other. Here I start by discussing some modern methods of analyzing integrated

Stellar kinematics and populations out to 1.5 effective radii in the elliptical galaxy NGC 4636

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pu Shibi; Han Zhanwen

2011-01-01

We present high quality long slit spectra along the major and minor axes out to 1.5 effective radii of the massive galaxy NGC 4636 taken by the Hobby-Eberly Telescope. Using the Fourier Correlation Quotient method, we measured the stellar line-of-sight velocity distribution along the axes. Furthermore, six Lick/IDS indices (Hβ, Mgb, Fe 5015 , Fe 5270 , Fe 5335 , Fe 5406 ) are derived from the clean spectrum. By comparing the measured absorption line strengths with the predictions of Simple Stellar Population (SSP) models, we derived ages, total metallicity and α abundance profiles of the galaxy. This galaxy presents old and [α/Fe] overabundant stellar populations. Indeed, using the SSP model, we obtained the broadband color profiles. The theoretical colors match well with the measured colors and present red sharp peaks at the galaxy center. The sharp peaks of the colors are mainly shaped by the high metallicity in the galaxy's center. Interestingly, the galaxy has steep negative metallicity gradients, but the trend flattens outwards. This result likely suggests that the center and outer regions of the galaxy formed through different formation processes.

Timing the formation and assembly of early-type galaxies via spatially resolved stellar populations analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Martín-Navarro, Ignacio; Vazdekis, Alexandre; Falcón-Barroso, Jesús; La Barbera, Francesco; Yıldırım, Akın; van de Ven, Glenn

2018-04-01

To investigate star formation and assembly processes of massive galaxies, we present here a spatially resolved stellar population analysis of a sample of 45 elliptical galaxies (Es) selected from the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area survey. We find rather flat age and [Mg/Fe] radial gradients, weakly dependent on the effective velocity dispersion of the galaxy within half-light radius. However, our analysis shows that metallicity gradients become steeper with increasing galaxy velocity dispersion. In addition, we have homogeneously compared the stellar population gradients of our sample of Es to a sample of nearby relic galaxies, i.e. local remnants of the high-z population of red nuggets. This comparison indicates that, first, the cores of present-day massive galaxies were likely formed in gas-rich, rapid star formation events at high redshift (z ≳ 2). This led to radial metallicity variations steeper than observed in the local Universe, and positive [Mg/Fe] gradients. Secondly, our analysis also suggests that a later sequence of minor dry mergers, populating the outskirts of early-type galaxies (ETGs), flattened the pristine [Mg/Fe] and metallicity gradients. Finally, we find a tight age-[Mg/Fe] relation, supporting that the duration of the star formation is the main driver of the [Mg/Fe] enhancement in massive ETGs. However, the star formation time-scale alone is not able to fully explain our [Mg/Fe] measurements. Interestingly, our results match the expected effect that a variable stellar initial mass function would have on the [Mg/Fe] ratio.

Anomalous Evolution of the Dwarf Galaxy HIPASS J1321-31

OpenAIRE

Pritzl, Barton J.; Knezek, Patricia M.; Gallagher III, John S.; Grossi, Marco; Disney, Mike J.; Minchin, Robert F.; Freeman, Kenneth C.; Tolstoy, Eline; Saha, Abi

2003-01-01

We present HST/WFPC2 observations of the dwarf galaxy HIPASS J1321-31. This unusual galaxy lies in the direction of the Centaurus A group of galaxies, and has a color-magnitude diagram with a distinctive red plume of luminous stars. This feature could arise from (a) a red giant branch if the galaxy were much nearer than previously recognized, (b) a peculiar asymptotic giant branch, or, (c) an ~1 Gigayear old population of intermediate mass red supergiants, which we find to be the most likely ...

Stellar Populations in Elliptical Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Angeletti, Lucio; Giannone, Pietro

The R1/n law for the radial surface brightness of elliptical galaxies and the "Best Accretion Model" together with the "Concentration Model" have been combined in order to determine the mass and dynamical structure of largely-populated star systems. Families of models depending on four parameters have been used to fit the observed surface radial profiles of some spectro-photometric indices of a sample of eleven galaxies. We present the best agreements of the spectral index Mg2 with observations for three selected galaxies representative of the full sample. For them we have also computed the spatial distributions of the metal abundances, which are essential to achieve a population synthesis.

Galaxy luminosity function: evolution at high redshift

Science.gov (United States)

Martinet, N.; Durret, F.; Guennou, L.; Adami, C.

2014-12-01

There are some disagreements about the abundance of faint galaxies in high redshift clusters. DAFT/FADA (Dark energy American French Team) is a medium redshift (0.4galaxy clusters ideal to tackle these problems. We present cluster galaxy luminosity functions (GLFs) based on photometric redshifts for 30 clusters in B, V, R and I restframe bands. We show that completeness is a key parameter to understand the different observed behaviors when fitting the GLFs. We also investigate the evolution of GLFs with redshift for red and blue galaxy populations separately. We find a drop of the faint end of red GLFs which is more important at higher redshift while the blue GLF faint end remains flat in our redshift range. These results can be interpreted in terms of galaxy quenching. Faint blue galaxies transform into red ones which enrich the red sequence from high to low redshifts in clusters while some blue galaxies are still accreted from the environment, compensating for this evolution so that the global GLF does not seem to evolve.

The Weak Lensing Masses of Filaments between Luminous Red Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Epps, Seth D.; Hudson, Michael J.

2017-07-01

In the standard model of non-linear structure formation, a cosmic web of dark-matter-dominated filaments connects dark matter haloes. In this paper, we stack the weak lensing signal of an ensemble of filaments between groups and clusters of galaxies. Specifically, we detect the weak lensing signal, using CFHTLenS galaxy ellipticities, from stacked filaments between Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)-III/Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey luminous red galaxies (LRGs). As a control, we compare the physical LRG pairs with projected LRG pairs that are more widely separated in redshift space. We detect the excess filament mass density in the projected pairs at the 5σ level, finding a mass of (1.6 ± 0.3) × 1013 M⊙ for a stacked filament region 7.1 h-1 Mpc long and 2.5 h-1 Mpc wide. This filament signal is compared with a model based on the three-point galaxy-galaxy-convergence correlation function, as developed in Clampitt et al., yielding reasonable agreement.

The red supergiant population in the Perseus arm

Science.gov (United States)

Dorda, R.; Negueruela, I.; González-Fernández, C.

2018-04-01

We present a new catalogue of cool supergiants in a section of the Perseus arm, most of which had not been previously identified. To generate it, we have used a set of well-defined photometric criteria to select a large number of candidates (637) that were later observed at intermediate resolution in the infrared calcium triplet spectral range, using a long-slit spectrograph. To separate red supergiants from luminous red giants, we used a statistical method, developed in previous works and improved in the present paper. We present a method to assign probabilities of being a red supergiant to a given spectrum and use the properties of a population to generate clean samples, without contamination from lower luminosity stars. We compare our identification with a classification done using classical criteria and discuss their respective efficiencies and contaminations as identification methods. We confirm that our method is as efficient at finding supergiants as the best classical methods, but with a far lower contamination by red giants than any other method. The result is a catalogue with 197 cool supergiants, 191 of which did not appear in previous lists of red supergiants. This is the largest coherent catalogue of cool supergiants in the Galaxy.

FROM BLUE STAR-FORMING TO RED PASSIVE: GALAXIES IN TRANSITION IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vulcani, Benedetta [Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), Todai Institutes for Advanced Study, the University of Tokyo, Kashiwa 277-8582 (Japan); Poggianti, Bianca M.; Fasano, Giovanni; Moretti, Alessia [INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova, I-35122 Padova (Italy); Fritz, Jacopo [Sterrenkundig Observatorium Vakgroep Fysica en Sterrenkunde Universiteit Gent, Krijgslaan 281, S9 B-9000 Gent (Belgium); Calvi, Rosa; Paccagnella, Angela [Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Universitá degli Studi di Padova, vicolo Osservatorio 2, I-35122 Padova (Italy)

2015-01-01

Exploiting a mass-complete (M {sub *} > 10{sup 10.25} M {sub ☉}) sample at 0.03 Galaxy Group Catalog, we use the (U – B) {sub rf} color and morphologies to characterize galaxies, in particular those that show signs of an ongoing or recent transformation of their star-formation activity and/or morphology: green galaxies, red passive late types, and blue star-forming early types. Color fractions depend on mass and only for M {sub *} < 10{sup 10.7} M {sub ☉} on environment. The incidence of red galaxies increases with increasing mass, and, for M {sub *} < 10{sup 10.7} M {sub ☉}, decreases toward the group outskirts and in binary and single galaxies. The relative abundance of green and blue galaxies is independent of environment and increases monotonically with galaxy mass. We also inspect galaxy structural parameters, star-formation properties, histories, and ages and propose an evolutionary scenario for the different subpopulations. Color transformations are due to a reduction and suppression of the star-formation rate in both bulges and disks that does not noticeably affect galaxy structure. Morphological transitions are linked to an enhanced bulge-to-disk ratio that is due to the removal of the disk, not to an increase of the bulge. Our modeling suggests that green colors might be due to star-formation histories declining with long timescales, as an alternative scenario to the classical ''quenching'' processes. Our results suggest that galaxy transformations in star-formation activity and morphology depend neither on the environment nor on being a satellite or the most massive galaxy of a halo. The only environmental dependence we find is the higher fast quenching efficiency in groups giving origin to poststarburst signatures.

The clustering evolution of distant red galaxies in the GOODS-MUSIC sample

Science.gov (United States)

Grazian, A.; Fontana, A.; Moscardini, L.; Salimbeni, S.; Menci, N.; Giallongo, E.; de Santis, C.; Gallozzi, S.; Nonino, M.; Cristiani, S.; Vanzella, E.

2006-07-01

Aims.We study the clustering properties of Distant Red Galaxies (DRGs) to test whether they are the progenitors of local massive galaxies. Methods.We use the GOODS-MUSIC sample, a catalog of ~3000 Ks-selected galaxies based on VLT and HST observation of the GOODS-South field with extended multi-wavelength coverage (from 0.3 to 8~μm) and accurate estimates of the photometric redshifts to select 179 DRGs with J-Ks≥ 1.3 in an area of 135 sq. arcmin.Results.We first show that the J-Ks≥ 1.3 criterion selects a rather heterogeneous sample of galaxies, going from the targeted high-redshift luminous evolved systems, to a significant fraction of lower redshift (1mass, like groups or small galaxy clusters. Low-z DRGs, on the other hand, will likely evolve into slightly less massive field galaxies.

The new galaxy evolution paradigm revealed by the Herschel surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Eales, Stephen; Smith, Dan; Bourne, Nathan; Loveday, Jon; Rowlands, Kate; van der Werf, Paul; Driver, Simon; Dunne, Loretta; Dye, Simon; Furlanetto, Cristina; Ivison, R. J.; Maddox, Steve; Robotham, Aaron; Smith, Matthew W. L.; Taylor, Edward N.; Valiante, Elisabetta; Wright, Angus; Cigan, Philip; De Zotti, Gianfranco; Jarvis, Matt J.; Marchetti, Lucia; Michałowski, Michał J.; Phillipps, Steven; Viaene, Sebastien; Vlahakis, Catherine

2018-01-01

The Herschel Space Observatory has revealed a very different galaxyscape from that shown by optical surveys which presents a challenge for galaxy-evolution models. The Herschel surveys reveal (1) that there was rapid galaxy evolution in the very recent past and (2) that galaxies lie on a single Galaxy Sequence (GS) rather than a star-forming 'main sequence' and a separate region of 'passive' or 'red-and-dead' galaxies. The form of the GS is now clearer because far-infrared surveys such as the Herschel ATLAS pick up a population of optically red star-forming galaxies that would have been classified as passive using most optical criteria. The space-density of this population is at least as high as the traditional star-forming population. By stacking spectra of H-ATLAS galaxies over the redshift range 0.001 high stellar masses, high star-formation rates but, even several billion years in the past, old stellar populations - they are thus likely to be relatively recent ancestors of early-type galaxies in the Universe today. The form of the GS is inconsistent with rapid quenching models and neither the analytic bathtub model nor the hydrodynamical EAGLE simulation can reproduce the rapid cosmic evolution. We propose a new gentler model of galaxy evolution that can explain the new Herschel results and other key properties of the galaxy population.

Kinematic evidence of satellite galaxy populations in the potential wells of first-ranked cluster galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Cowie, L. L.; Hu, E. M.

1986-01-01

The velocities of 38 centrally positioned galaxies (r much less than 100 kpc) were measured relative to the velocity of the first-ranked galaxy in 14 rich clusters. Analysis of the velocity distribution function of this sample and of previous data shows that the population cannot be fit by a single Gaussian. An adequate fit is obtained if 60 percent of the objects lie in a Gaussian with sigma = 250 km/s and the remainder in a population with sigma = 1400 km/s. All previous data sets are individually consistent with this conclusion. This suggests that there is a bound population of galaxies in the potential well of the central galaxy in addition to the normal population of the cluster core. This is taken as supporting evidence for the galactic cannibalism model of cD galaxy formation.

MODELING THE RED SEQUENCE: HIERARCHICAL GROWTH YET SLOW LUMINOSITY EVOLUTION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skelton, Rosalind E.; Bell, Eric F.; Somerville, Rachel S.

2012-01-01

We explore the effects of mergers on the evolution of massive early-type galaxies by modeling the evolution of their stellar populations in a hierarchical context. We investigate how a realistic red sequence population set up by z ∼ 1 evolves under different assumptions for the merger and star formation histories, comparing changes in color, luminosity, and mass. The purely passive fading of existing red sequence galaxies, with no further mergers or star formation, results in dramatic changes at the bright end of the luminosity function and color-magnitude relation. Without mergers there is too much evolution in luminosity at a fixed space density compared to observations. The change in color and magnitude at a fixed mass resembles that of a passively evolving population that formed relatively recently, at z ∼ 2. Mergers among the red sequence population ('dry mergers') occurring after z = 1 build up mass, counteracting the fading of the existing stellar populations to give smaller changes in both color and luminosity for massive galaxies. By allowing some galaxies to migrate from the blue cloud onto the red sequence after z = 1 through gas-rich mergers, younger stellar populations are added to the red sequence. This manifestation of the progenitor bias increases the scatter in age and results in even smaller changes in color and luminosity between z = 1 and z = 0 at a fixed mass. The resultant evolution appears much slower, resembling the passive evolution of a population that formed at high redshift (z ∼ 3-5), and is in closer agreement with observations. We conclude that measurements of the luminosity and color evolution alone are not sufficient to distinguish between the purely passive evolution of an old population and cosmologically motivated hierarchical growth, although these scenarios have very different implications for the mass growth of early-type galaxies over the last half of cosmic history.

AEGIS: THE MORPHOLOGIES OF GREEN GALAXIES AT 0.4 < z < 1.2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mendez, Alexander J.; Coil, Alison L.; Moustakas, John; Lotz, Jennifer; Salim, Samir; Simard, Luc

2011-01-01

We present quantitative morphologies of ∼300 galaxies in the optically defined green valley at 0.4 20 . We find that the green galaxy population is intermediate between the red and blue galaxy populations in terms of concentration, asymmetry, and morphological type and merger fraction estimated using Gini/M 20 . We find that most green galaxies are not classified as mergers; in fact, the merger fraction in the green valley is lower than in the blue cloud. We show that at a given stellar mass, green galaxies have higher concentration values than blue galaxies and lower concentration values than red galaxies. Additionally, we find that 12% of green galaxies have B/T = 0 and 21% have B/T ≤ 0.05. Our results show that green galaxies are generally massive (M * ∼ 10 10.5 M sun ) disk galaxies with high concentrations. We conclude that major mergers are likely not the sole mechanism responsible for quenching star formation in this population and that either other external processes or internal secular processes play an important role both in driving gas toward the center of these galaxies and in quenching star formation.

INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP GALAXIES IN CNOC1 CLUSTERS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, I. H.; Yee, H. K. C.; Ellingson, E.

2009-01-01

Using wide-field BVR c I imaging for a sample of 16 intermediate redshift (0.17 red ) to infer the evolutionary status of galaxies in clusters, using both individual galaxies and galaxies in groups. We apply the local galaxy density, Σ 5 , derived using the fifth nearest neighbor distance, as a measure of local environment, and the cluster-centric radius, r CL , as a proxy for global cluster environment. Our cluster sample exhibits a Butcher-Oemler effect in both luminosity-selected and stellar-mass-selected samples. We find that f red depends strongly on Σ 5 and r CL , and the Butcher-Oemler effect is observed in all Σ 5 and r CL bins. However, when the cluster galaxies are separated into r CL bins, or into group and nongroup subsamples, the dependence on local galaxy density becomes much weaker. This suggests that the properties of the dark matter halo in which the galaxy resides have a dominant effect on its galaxy population and evolutionary history. We find that our data are consistent with the scenario that cluster galaxies situated in successively richer groups (i.e., more massive dark matter halos) reach a high f red value at earlier redshifts. Associated with this, we observe a clear signature of 'preprocessing', in which cluster galaxies belonging to moderately massive infalling galaxy groups show a much stronger evolution in f red than those classified as nongroup galaxies, especially at the outskirts of the cluster. This result suggests that galaxies in groups infalling into clusters are significant contributors to the Butcher-Oemler effect.

The evolution of galaxies at moderate redshift

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lilly, S.J.

1987-01-01

Optical and infrared photometric data on 53 galaxies in five clusters at 0.38 < z < 0.58 are described and analysed to produce the rest-frame (U-V) and (V-H) colours. The 36 red galaxies form a homogeneous population in each cluster. The colours of the 17 blue galaxies clearly distinguish between the normal spirals and the peculiar 'A-type' galaxies found in these Butcher-Oemler clusters and suggest for the latter a substantial intermediate age 1-Gyr population as indicated by optical spectra. The average colours of the red elliptical galaxies at z ∼ 0.45 are systematically 0.12 mag bluer in the rest-frame (U-V), as expected from conventional evolutionary models, but are about 0.1 mag redder in (V-H), which is not predicted by the models. It is shown, however, that inclusion of the evolution of the upper Asymptotic Giant Branch, which is usually neglected, into a simple evolutionary model can explain the observed evolution vector in the (U-V)/(V-H) plane. (author)

THE REST-FRAME OPTICAL LUMINOSITY FUNCTION OF CLUSTER GALAXIES AT z < 0.8 AND THE ASSEMBLY OF THE CLUSTER RED SEQUENCE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rudnick, Gregory; Von der Linden, Anja; De Lucia, Gabriella; White, Simon; Pello, Roser; Aragon-Salamanca, Alfonso; Marchesini, Danilo; Clowe, Douglas; Halliday, Claire; Jablonka, Pascale; Milvang-Jensen, Bo; Poggianti, Bianca; Saglia, Roberto; Simard, Luc; Zaritsky, Dennis

2009-01-01

We present the rest-frame optical luminosity function (LF) of red-sequence galaxies in 16 clusters at 0.4 < z < 0.8 drawn from the ESO Distant Cluster Survey (EDisCS). We compare our clusters to an analogous sample from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and match the EDisCS clusters to their most likely descendants. We measure all LFs down to M ∼ M * + (2.5-3.5). At z < 0.8, the bright end of the LF is consistent with passive evolution but there is a significant buildup of the faint end of the red sequence toward lower redshift. There is a weak dependence of the LF on cluster velocity dispersion for EDisCS but no such dependence for the SDSS clusters. We find tentative evidence that red-sequence galaxies brighter than a threshold magnitude are already in place, and that this threshold evolves to fainter magnitudes toward lower redshifts. We compare the EDisCS LFs with the LF of coeval red-sequence galaxies in the field and find that the bright end of the LFs agree. However, relative to the number of bright red galaxies, the field has more faint red galaxies than clusters at 0.6 < z < 0.8 but fewer at 0.4 < z < 0.6, implying differential evolution. We compare the total light in the EDisCS cluster red sequences to the total red-sequence light in our SDSS cluster sample. Clusters at 0.4 < z < 0.8 must increase their luminosity on the red sequence (and therefore stellar mass in red galaxies) by a factor of 1-3 by z = 0. The necessary processes that add mass to the red sequence in clusters predict local clusters that are overluminous as compared to those observed in the SDSS. The predicted cluster luminosities can be reconciled with observed local cluster luminosities by combining multiple previously known effects.

WHERE DO WET, DRY, AND MIXED GALAXY MERGERS OCCUR? A STUDY OF THE ENVIRONMENTS OF CLOSE GALAXY PAIRS IN THE DEEP2 GALAXY REDSHIFT SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Lihwai; Cooper, Michael C.; Willmer, Christopher N. A.; Jian, Hung-Yu; Chiueh, Tzihong; Koo, David C.; Guhathakurta, Puragra; Patton, David R.; Yan, Renbin; Coil, Alison L.; Croton, Darren J.; Gerke, Brian F.; Lotz, Jennifer; Newman, Jeffrey A.

2010-01-01

We study the environments of wet, dry, and mixed galaxy mergers at 0.75 c ) is observed to increase with overdensity, using N-body simulations, we find that the fraction of pairs that will eventually merge decreases with the local density, predominantly because interlopers are more common in dense environments. After taking into account the merger probability of pairs as a function of local density, we find only marginal environment dependence of the galaxy merger rate for wet mergers. On the other hand, the dry and mixed merger rates increase rapidly with local density due to the increased population of red galaxies in dense environments, implying that the dry and mixed mergers are most effective in overdense regions. We also find that the environment distribution of K+A galaxies is similar to that of wet mergers alone and of wet+mixed mergers, suggesting a possible connection between K+A galaxies and wet and/or wet+mixed mergers. Based on our results, we therefore expect that the properties, including structures and masses, of red-sequence galaxies should be different between those in underdense regions and those in overdense regions since the dry mergers are significantly more important in dense environments. We conclude that, as early as z ∼ 1, high-density regions are the preferred environment in which dry mergers occur, and that present-day red-sequence galaxies in overdense environments have, on average, undergone 1.2 ± 0.3 dry mergers since this time, accounting for (38 ± 10)% of their mass accretion in the last 8 billion years. The main uncertainty in this finding is the conversion from the pair fraction to the galaxy merger rate, which is possibly as large as a factor of 2. Our findings suggest that dry mergers are crucial in the mass assembly of massive red galaxies in dense environments, such as brightest cluster galaxies in galaxy groups and clusters.

LINER galaxy properties and the local environment

Science.gov (United States)

Coldwell, Georgina V.; Alonso, Sol; Duplancic, Fernanda; Mesa, Valeria

2018-05-01

We analyse the properties of a sample of 5560 low-ionization nuclear emission-line region (LINER) galaxies selected from SDSS-DR12 at low red shift, for a complete range of local density environments. The host LINER galaxies were studied and compared with a well-defined control sample of 5553 non-LINER galaxies matched in red shift, luminosity, morphology and local density. By studying the distributions of galaxy colours and the stellar age population, we find that LINERs are redder and older than the control sample over a wide range of densities. In addition, LINERs are older than the control sample, at a given galaxy colour, indicating that some external process could have accelerated the evolution of the stellar population. The analysis of the host properties shows that the control sample exhibits a strong relation between colours, ages and the local density, while more than 90 per cent of the LINERs are redder and older than the mean values, independently of the neighbourhood density. Furthermore, a detailed study in three local density ranges shows that, while control sample galaxies are redder and older as a function of stellar mass and density, LINER galaxies mismatch the known morphology-density relation of galaxies without low-ionization features. The results support the contribution of hot and old stars to the low-ionization emission although the contribution of nuclear activity is not discarded.

THE ASYMPTOTIC GIANT BRANCH AND THE TIP OF THE RED GIANT BRANCH AS PROBES OF STAR FORMATION HISTORY: THE NEARBY DWARF IRREGULAR GALAXY KKH 98

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Melbourne, J.; Williams, B.; Dalcanton, J.; Ammons, S. M.; Max, C.; Koo, D. C.; Girardi, Leo; Dolphin, A.

2010-01-01

We investigate the utility of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and the red giant branch (RGB) as probes of the star formation history (SFH) of the nearby (D = 2.5 Mpc) dwarf irregular galaxy, KKH 98. Near-infrared (near-IR) Keck Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics (AO) images resolve 592 IR-bright stars reaching over 1 mag below the tip of the RGB. Significantly deeper optical (F475W and F814W) Hubble Space Telescope images of the same field contain over 2500 stars, reaching to the red clump and the main-sequence turnoff for 0.5 Gyr old populations. Compared to the optical color-magnitude diagram (CMD), the near-IR CMD shows significantly tighter AGB sequences, providing a good probe of the intermediate-age (0.5-5 Gyr) populations. We match observed CMDs with stellar evolution models to recover the SFH of KKH 98. On average, the galaxy has experienced relatively constant low-level star formation (5 x 10 -4 M sun yr -1 ) for much of cosmic time. Except for the youngest main-sequence populations (age <0.1 Gyr), which are typically fainter than the AO data flux limit, the SFH estimated from the 592 IR-bright stars is a reasonable match to that derived from the much larger optical data set. Differences between the optical- and IR-derived SFHs for 0.1-1 Gyr populations suggest that current stellar evolution models may be overproducing the AGB by as much as a factor of 3 in this galaxy. At the depth of the AO data, the IR-luminous stars are not crowded. Therefore, these techniques can potentially be used to determine the stellar populations of galaxies at significantly further distances.

CHEMICAL ABUNDANCE PATTERNS IN THE INNER GALAXY: THE SCUTUM RED SUPERGIANT CLUSTERS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davies, Ben; Origlia, Livia; Kudritzki, Rolf-Peter; Figer, Don F.; Rich, R. Michael; Najarro, Francisco; Negueruela, Ignacio; Clark, J. Simon

2009-01-01

The location of the Scutum Red Supergiant (RSG) clusters at the end of the Galactic Bar makes them an excellent probe of the Galaxy's secular evolution, while the clusters themselves are ideal testbeds in which to study the predictions of stellar evolutionary theory. To this end, we present a study of the RSG's surface abundances using a combination of high-resolution Keck/NIRSPEC H-band spectroscopy and spectral synthesis analysis. We provide abundance measurements for elements C, O, Si, Mg, Ti, and Fe. We find that the surface abundances of the stars studied are consistent with CNO burning and deep, rotationally enhanced mixing. The average α/Fe ratios of the clusters are solar, consistent with a thin-disk population. However, we find significantly subsolar Fe/H ratios for each cluster, a result which strongly contradicts a simple extrapolation of the Galactic metallicity gradient to lower Galactocentric distances. We suggest that a simple one-dimensional parameterization of the Galaxy's abundance patterns is insufficient at low Galactocentric distances, as large azimuthal variations may be present. Indeed, we show that the abundances of O, Si, and Mg are consistent with independent measurements of objects in similar locations in the Galaxy. In combining our results with other data in the literature, we present evidence for large-scale (∼ kpc) azimuthal variations in abundances at Galactocentric distances of 3-5 kpc. While we cannot rule out that this observed behavior is due to systematic offsets between different measurement techniques, we do find evidence for similar behavior in a study of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 4736 which uses homogeneous methodology. We suggest that these azimuthal abundance variations could result from the intense but patchy star formation driven by the potential of the central bar.

THE SLOAN GREAT WALL. MORPHOLOGY AND GALAXY CONTENT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Einasto, M.; Liivamaegi, L. J.; Tempel, E.; Saar, E.; Tago, E.; Einasto, P.; Enkvist, I.; Einasto, J.; MartInez, V. J.; Heinaemaeki, P.; Nurmi, P.

2011-01-01

We present the results of a study of the morphology and galaxy content of the Sloan Great Wall (SGW), the richest galaxy system in the nearby universe. We use the luminosity density field to determine superclusters in the SGW, and the fourth Minkowski functional V 3 and the morphological signature (the K 1 -K 2 shapefinder curve) to show the different morphologies of the SGW, from a single filament to a multibranching, clumpy planar system. We show that the richest supercluster in the SGW, SCl 126, and especially its core, resembles a very rich filament, while another rich supercluster in the SGW, SCl 111, resembles a 'multispider'-an assembly of high-density regions connected by chains of galaxies. We study the substructure of individual galaxy populations determined by their color in these superclusters using Minkowski functionals and find that in the high-density core of the SGW the clumpiness of red and blue galaxies is similar, but in the outskirts of superclusters the distribution of red galaxies is clumpier than that of blue galaxies. At intermediate densities, the systems of blue galaxies have tunnels through them. We assess the statistical significance of our results using the halo model and smoothed bootstrap. We study the galaxy content and the properties of groups of galaxies in the two richest superclusters of the SGW, paying special attention to bright red galaxies (BRGs) and the first ranked (the most luminous) galaxies in SGW groups. The BRGs are the nearby luminous red galaxies; they are mostly bright and red and typically reside in groups (several groups host five or more BRGs). About one-third of the BRGs are spirals. The scatter of colors of elliptical BRGs is smaller than that of spiral BRGs. About half of the BRGs and of first ranked galaxies in groups have large peculiar velocities. Groups with elliptical BRGs as their first ranked galaxies populate superclusters more uniformly than the groups that have a spiral BRG as their first ranked

RED FRACTION AMONG SATELLITE GALAXIES WITH DISK-LIKE LIGHT PROFILES: EVIDENCE FOR INFLOW IN THE H I DISK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hester, J. A.

2010-01-01

The relationships between color, characterized with respect to the g - r red sequence; stellar structure, as determined using the i-band Sersic index; and group membership are explored using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The new results place novel constraints on theories of galaxy evolution, despite the strong correlation between color and stellar structure. Observed correlations are of three independent types-those based on stellar structure, on the color of disk-like galaxies, and on the color of elliptical galaxies. Of particular note, the fraction of galaxies residing on the red sequence measured among galaxies with disk-like light profiles is enhanced for satellite galaxies compared to central galaxies. This fraction increases with group mass. When these new results are considered, theoretical treatments of galaxy evolution that adopt a gas accretion model centered on the hot galactic halo cannot consistently account for all observations of disk galaxies. The hypothesis is advanced that inflow within the extended H I disk prolongs star formation in satellite galaxies. When combined with partial ram pressure stripping (RPS) of this disk, this new scenario is consistent with the observations. This is demonstrated by applying an analytical model of RPS of the extended H I disk to the SDSS groups. These results motivate incorporating more complex modes of gas accretion into models of galaxy evolution, including cold mode accretion, an improved treatment of gas dynamics within disks, and disk stripping.

redMaGiC: selecting luminous red galaxies from the DES Science Verification data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rozo, E. [Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States). et al.

2016-05-30

We introduce redMaGiC, an automated algorithm for selecting Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs). The algorithm was developed to minimize photometric redshift uncertainties in photometric large-scale structure studies. redMaGiC achieves this by self-training the color-cuts necessary to produce a luminosity-thresholded LRG sam- ple of constant comoving density. Additionally, we demonstrate that redMaGiC photo-zs are very nearly as accurate as the best machine-learning based methods, yet they require minimal spectroscopic training, do not suffer from extrapolation biases, and are very nearly Gaussian. We apply our algorithm to Dark Energy Survey (DES) Science Verification (SV) data to produce a redMaGiC catalog sampling the redshift range z ϵ [0.2,0.8]. Our fiducial sample has a comoving space density of 10^-3 (h^-1Mpc)^-3, and a median photo-z bias (z_spec z_photo) and scatter (σ_z=(1 + z)) of 0.005 and 0.017 respectively.The corresponding 5σ outlier fraction is 1.4%. We also test our algorithm with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 8 (DR8) and Stripe 82 data, and discuss how spectroscopic training can be used to control photo-z biases at the 0.1% level.

THE AGE SPREAD OF QUIESCENT GALAXIES WITH THE NEWFIRM MEDIUM-BAND SURVEY: IDENTIFICATION OF THE OLDEST GALAXIES OUT TO z ∼ 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whitaker, Katherine E.; Van Dokkum, Pieter G.; Brammer, Gabriel; Bezanson, Rachel; Lee, Kyoung-Soo; Muzzin, Adam; Wake, David A.; Kriek, Mariska; Franx, Marijn; Quadri, Ryan F.; Labbe, Ivo; Marchesini, Danilo; Illingworth, Garth D.; Rudnick, Gregory

2010-01-01

With a complete, mass-selected sample of quiescent galaxies from the NEWFIRM Medium-Band Survey, we study the stellar populations of the oldest and most massive galaxies (>10 11 M sun ) to high redshift. The sample includes 570 quiescent galaxies selected based on their extinction-corrected U - V colors out to z = 2.2, with accurate photometric redshifts, σ z /(1 + z) ∼ 2%, and rest-frame colors, σ U-V ∼ 0.06 mag. We measure an increase in the intrinsic scatter of the rest-frame U - V colors of quiescent galaxies with redshift. This scatter in color arises from the spread in ages of the quiescent galaxies, where we see both relatively quiescent red, old galaxies and quiescent blue, younger galaxies toward higher redshift. The trends between color and age are consistent with the observed composite rest-frame spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of these galaxies. The composite SEDs of the reddest and bluest quiescent galaxies are fundamentally different, with remarkably well-defined 4000 A and Balmer breaks, respectively. Some of the quiescent galaxies may be up to four times older than the average age and up to the age of the universe, if the assumption of solar metallicity is correct. By matching the scatter predicted by models that include growth of the red sequence by the transformation of blue galaxies to the observed intrinsic scatter, the data indicate that most early-type galaxies formed their stars at high redshift with a burst of star formation prior to migrating to the red sequence. The observed U - V color evolution with redshift is weaker than passive evolution predicts; possible mechanisms to slow the color evolution include increasing amounts of dust in quiescent galaxies toward higher redshift, red mergers at z ∼< 1, and a frosting of relatively young stars from star formation at later times.

Correlations among Galaxy Properties from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhongmu; Mao, Caiyan

2013-07-01

Galaxies are complex systems with many properties. Correlations among galaxy properties can supply important clues for studying the formation and evolution of galaxies. Using principal component analysis and least-squares fitting, this paper investigates the correlations among galactic parameters involving more properties (color, morphology, stellar population, and absolute magnitude) than previous studies. We use a volume-limited sample (whole sample) of 75,423 galaxies that was selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 2 and divided into two subsamples (blue and red samples) using a critical color of (g - r) = 0.70 mag. In addition to recovering some previous results, we also obtain some new results. First, all separators for dividing galaxies into two groups can be related via good parameter-first principal component (PC1) correlations. A critical PC1 that indicates whether or not stellar age (or the evolution of a stellar population over time) is important can be used to separate galaxies. This suggests that a statistical parameter, PC1, is helpful in understanding the physical separators of galaxies. In addition, stellar age is shown to be unimportant for red galaxies, while both stellar age and mass are dominating parameters of blue galaxies. This suggests that the various numbers of dominating parameters of galaxies may result from the use of different samples. Finally, some parameters are shown to be correlated, and quantitative fits for a few correlations are obtained, e.g., log(t) = 8.57 + 1.65 (g - r) for the age (log t) and color (g - r) of blue galaxies and log (M *) = 4.31 - 0.30 M r for the stellar mass (log M *) and absolute magnitude (M r) of red galaxies. The median relationships between various parameter pairs are also presented for comparison.

The origin of ultra diffuse galaxies: stellar feedback and quenching

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, T. K.; Kereš, D.; Wetzel, A.; Hopkins, P. F.; Faucher-Giguère, C.-A.; El-Badry, K.; Garrison-Kimmel, S.; Boylan-Kolchin, M.

2018-05-01

We test if the cosmological zoom-in simulations of isolated galaxies from the FIRE project reproduce the properties of ultra diffuse galaxies (UDGs). We show that outflows that dynamically heat galactic stars, together with a passively aging stellar population after imposed quenching, naturally reproduce the observed population of red UDGs, without the need for high spin halos, or dynamical influence from their host cluster. We reproduce the range of surface brightness, radius and absolute magnitude of the observed red UDGs by quenching simulated galaxies at a range of different times. They represent a mostly uniform population of dark matter-dominated dwarf galaxies with M* ˜ 108 M⊙, low metallicity and a broad range of ages; the more massive the UDGs, the older they are. The most massive red UDG in our sample (M* ˜ 3 × 108M⊙) requires quenching at z ˜ 3 when its halo reached Mh ˜ 1011 M⊙. Our simulated UDGs form with normal stellar-to-halo ratios and match the central enclosed masses and the velocity dispersions of the observed UDGs. Enclosed masses remain largely fixed across a broad range of quenching times because the central regions of their dark matter halos complete their growth early. If our simulated dwarfs are not quenched, they evolve into bluer low-surface brightness galaxies with M/L similar to observed field dwarfs. While our simulation sample covers a limited range of formation histories and halo masses, we predict that UDG is a common, and perhaps even dominant, galaxy type around M* ˜ 108 M⊙, both in the field and in clusters.

Stochastic 2-D galaxy disk evolution models. Resolved stellar populations in the galaxy M33

Science.gov (United States)

Mineikis, T.; Vansevičius, V.

We improved the stochastic 2-D galaxy disk models (Mineikis & Vansevičius 2014a) by introducing enriched gas outflows from galaxies and synthetic color-magnitude diagrams of stellar populations. To test the models, we use the HST/ACS stellar photometry data in four fields located along the major axis of the galaxy M33 (Williams et al. 2009) and demonstrate the potential of the models to derive 2-D star formation histories in the resolved disk galaxies.

Galaxies Die in Groups: An IRAC Autopsy

Science.gov (United States)

Wilman, D. J.; Pierini, D.; Tyler, K.; McGee, S. L.; Oemler, A., Jr.; Morris, S. L.; Balogh, M. L.; Bower, R. G.; Mulchaey, J. S.

2008-10-01

The most massive galaxies in the Universe are also the oldest. To overturn this apparent contradiction with hierarchical growth models, we focus on the group-scale haloes which host most of these galaxies. Our z˜0.4 group sample is selected in redshift space from the CNOC2 redshift survey. A stellar mass selected M_{*} ≲ 2×10^{10}M_{⊙} sample is constructed using IRAC observations. A sensitive Mid InfraRed (MIR) IRAC colour is used to isolate passive galaxies. It produces a bimodal distribution, in which passive galaxies (highlighted by morphological early-types) define a tight MIR colour sequence (Infrared Passive Sequence, IPS). This is due to stellar atmospheric emission from old stellar populations. Significantly offset from the IPS are galaxies where reemission by dust boosts emission at λ_{obs}=8 micron. We term them InfraRed-Excess galaxies whether star formation and/or AGN activity are present. They include all known morphological late-types. The fraction of InfraRed Excess galaxies, f(IRE) drops with M_{*}, such that f(IRE)=0.5 at a ``crossover mass'' of M_{cr}˜ 1.3×10^{11}M_{⊙}. Within our optically-defined group sample there is a strong and consistent deficit in f(IRE) at all masses, but most clearly at M_{*} ≲ 10^{11}M_{⊙}. Suppression of star formation must mainly occur in groups, and the observed trend of f(IRE) with M_{*} can be explained if suppression of M_{*} ≲ 10^{11}M_{⊙} galaxies occurs primarily in the group environment.

AKARI OBSERVATION OF THE NORTH ECLIPTIC POLE (NEP) SUPERCLUSTER AT z = 0.087: MID-INFRARED VIEW OF TRANSITION GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ko, Jongwan; Im, Myungshin; Lee, Hyung Mok; Lee, Myung Gyoon; Kim, Seong Jin; Jeon, Yiseul; Shim, Hyunjin; Hwang, Ho Seong; Willmer, Christopher N. A.; Weiner, Benjamin J.; Malkan, Matthew A.; Papovich, Casey; Matsuhara, Hideo; Takagi, Toshinobu; Oyabu, Shinki

2012-01-01

We present the mid-infrared (MIR) properties of galaxies within a supercluster in the north ecliptic pole region at z ∼ 0.087 observed with the AKARI satellite. We use data from the AKARI NEP-Wide (5.4 deg 2 ) IR survey and the CLusters of galaxies EVoLution studies (CLEVL) mission program. We show that near-IR (3 μm)-mid-IR (11 μm) color can be used as an indicator of the specific star formation rate and the presence of intermediate-age stellar populations. From the MIR observations, we find that red-sequence galaxies consist not only of passively evolving red early-type galaxies, but also of (1) 'weak-SFGs' (disk-dominated star-forming galaxies that have star formation rates lower by ∼4 × than blue-cloud galaxies) and (2) 'intermediate-MXGs' (bulge-dominated galaxies showing stronger MIR dust emission than normal red early-type galaxies). These two populations can be a set of transition galaxies from blue, star-forming, late-type galaxies evolving into red, quiescent, early-type ones. We find that the weak-SFGs are predominant at intermediate masses (10 10 M ☉ * 10.5 M ☉ ) and are typically found in local densities similar to the outskirts of galaxy clusters. As much as 40% of the supercluster member galaxies in this mass range can be classified as weak-SFGs, but their proportion decreases to * > 10 10.5 M ☉ ) at any galaxy density. The fraction of the intermediate-MXG among red-sequence galaxies at 10 10 M ☉ * 11 M ☉ also decreases as the density and mass increase. In particular, ∼42% of the red-sequence galaxies with early-type morphologies are classified as intermediate-MXGs at intermediate densities. These results suggest that the star formation activity is strongly dependent on the stellar mass, but that the morphological transformation is mainly controlled by the environment.

THE DEAD SEQUENCE: A CLEAR BIMODALITY IN GALAXY COLORS FROM z = 0 to z = 2.5

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brammer, G. B.; Whitaker, K. E.; Van Dokkum, P. G.; Marchesini, D.; Lee, K.-S.; Muzzin, A.; Labbe, I.; Franx, M.; Quadri, R. F.; Kriek, M.; Illingworth, G.; Rudnick, G.

2009-01-01

We select 25,000 galaxies from the NEWFIRM Medium Band Survey (NMBS) to study the rest-frame U - V color distribution of galaxies at 0 < z ∼< 2.5. The five unique NIR filters of the NMBS enable the precise measurement of photometric redshifts and rest-frame colors for 9900 galaxies at 1 < z < 2.5. The rest-frame U - V color distribution at all z ∼< 2.5 is bimodal, with a red peak, a blue peak, and a population of galaxies in between (the green valley). Model fits to the optical-NIR spectral energy distributions and the distribution of MIPS-detected galaxies indicate that the colors of galaxies in the green valley are determined largely by the amount of reddening by dust. This result does not support the simplest interpretation of green valley objects as a transition from blue star forming to red quiescent galaxies. We show that correcting the rest-frame colors for dust reddening allows a remarkably clean separation between the red and blue sequences up to z ∼ 2.5. Our study confirms that dusty-starburst galaxies can contribute a significant fraction to red-sequence samples selected on the basis of a single rest-frame color (i.e., U - V), so extra care must be taken if samples of truly 'red and dead' galaxies are desired. Interestingly, of galaxies detected at 24 μm, 14% remain on the red sequence after applying the reddening correction.

3He, red dwarf stars and future trillion years of the Galaxy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solpiter, Eh.Eh.

1986-01-01

Certain problems of red dwarf evolution are considered. On the basis of the observed upper limit of 3 He content in interstellar medium the evaluation of the limit of average rate of a dwarf star mass loss is given. For a typical dwarf of the age approximately equal to half of the Galaxy age the upper limit for the average part of the star mass, which has been lost in 10 10 years by means of stellar wind, constitutes g≤0.04. If g is near its upper limit, equal to 0.04, energy inflow to the interstellar medium from dwarfs is small, as compared with supernovae in the Galaxy, but not negligible

Low-Surface-Brightness Galaxies: Hidden Galaxies Revealed

Science.gov (United States)

Bothun, G.; Impey, C.; McGaugh, S.

1997-07-01

In twenty years, low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies have evolved from being an idiosyncratic notion to being one of the major baryonic repositories in the Universe. The story of their discovery and the characterization of their properties is told here. Their recovery from the noise of the night sky background is a strong testament to the severity of surface brightness selection effects. LSB galaxies have a number of remarkable properties which distinguish them from the more familiar Hubble Sequence of spirals. The two most important are 1) they evolve at a significantly slower rate and may well experience star formation outside of the molecular cloud environment, 2) they are embedded in dark matter halos which are of lower density and more extended than the halos around high surface brightness (HSB) disk galaxies. Compared to HSB disks, LSB disks are strongly dark matter dominated at all radii and show a systematic increase in $M/L$ with decreasing central surface brightness. In addition, the recognition that large numbers of LSB galaxies actually exist has changed the form of the galaxy luminosity function and has clearly increased the space density of galaxies at z =0. Recent CCD surveys have uncovered a population of red LSB disks that may be related to the excess of faint blue galaxies detected at moderate redshifts. LSB galaxies offer us a new window into galaxy evolution and formation which is every bit as important as those processes which have produced easy to detect galaxies. Indeed, the apparent youth of some LSB galaxies suggest that galaxy formation is a greatly extended process. While the discovery of LSB galaxies have lead to new insights, it remains unwise to presume that we now have a representative sample which encompasses all galaxy types and forms. (SECTION: Invited Review Paper)

PRECISION MEASUREMENTS OF THE CLUSTER RED SEQUENCE USING AN ERROR-CORRECTED GAUSSIAN MIXTURE MODEL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hao Jiangang; Annis, James; Koester, Benjamin P.; Mckay, Timothy A.; Evrard, August; Gerdes, David; Rykoff, Eli S.; Rozo, Eduardo; Becker, Matthew; Busha, Michael; Wechsler, Risa H.; Johnston, David E.; Sheldon, Erin

2009-01-01

The red sequence is an important feature of galaxy clusters and plays a crucial role in optical cluster detection. Measurement of the slope and scatter of the red sequence are affected both by selection of red sequence galaxies and measurement errors. In this paper, we describe a new error-corrected Gaussian Mixture Model for red sequence galaxy identification. Using this technique, we can remove the effects of measurement error and extract unbiased information about the intrinsic properties of the red sequence. We use this method to select red sequence galaxies in each of the 13,823 clusters in the maxBCG catalog, and measure the red sequence ridgeline location and scatter of each. These measurements provide precise constraints on the variation of the average red galaxy populations in the observed frame with redshift. We find that the scatter of the red sequence ridgeline increases mildly with redshift, and that the slope decreases with redshift. We also observe that the slope does not strongly depend on cluster richness. Using similar methods, we show that this behavior is mirrored in a spectroscopic sample of field galaxies, further emphasizing that ridgeline properties are independent of environment. These precise measurements serve as an important observational check on simulations and mock galaxy catalogs. The observed trends in the slope and scatter of the red sequence ridgeline with redshift are clues to possible intrinsic evolution of the cluster red sequence itself. Most importantly, the methods presented in this work lay the groundwork for further improvements in optically based cluster cosmology.

Precision Measurements of the Cluster Red Sequence using an Error Corrected Gaussian Mixture Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hao, Jiangang; /Fermilab /Michigan U.; Koester, Benjamin P.; /Chicago U.; Mckay, Timothy A.; /Michigan U.; Rykoff, Eli S.; /UC, Santa Barbara; Rozo, Eduardo; /Ohio State U.; Evrard, August; /Michigan U.; Annis, James; /Fermilab; Becker, Matthew; /Chicago U.; Busha, Michael; /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC; Gerdes, David; /Michigan U.; Johnston, David E.; /Northwestern U. /Brookhaven

2009-07-01

The red sequence is an important feature of galaxy clusters and plays a crucial role in optical cluster detection. Measurement of the slope and scatter of the red sequence are affected both by selection of red sequence galaxies and measurement errors. In this paper, we describe a new error corrected Gaussian Mixture Model for red sequence galaxy identification. Using this technique, we can remove the effects of measurement error and extract unbiased information about the intrinsic properties of the red sequence. We use this method to select red sequence galaxies in each of the 13,823 clusters in the maxBCG catalog, and measure the red sequence ridgeline location and scatter of each. These measurements provide precise constraints on the variation of the average red galaxy populations in the observed frame with redshift. We find that the scatter of the red sequence ridgeline increases mildly with redshift, and that the slope decreases with redshift. We also observe that the slope does not strongly depend on cluster richness. Using similar methods, we show that this behavior is mirrored in a spectroscopic sample of field galaxies, further emphasizing that ridgeline properties are independent of environment. These precise measurements serve as an important observational check on simulations and mock galaxy catalogs. The observed trends in the slope and scatter of the red sequence ridgeline with redshift are clues to possible intrinsic evolution of the cluster red-sequence itself. Most importantly, the methods presented in this work lay the groundwork for further improvements in optically-based cluster cosmology.

WISE Discovery of Hyper Luminous Galaxies at z=2-4 and Their Implications for Galaxy and AGN Evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Chao Wei; Eisenhardt, Peter; Wu, Jingwen; Bridge, Carrie; Assef, Roberto; Benford, Dominic; Blain, Andrew; Cutri, Roc; Griffith, Robert L.; Jarrett, Thomas;

Automatic Approach to Morphological Classification of Galaxies With Analysis of Galaxy Populations in Clusters

Science.gov (United States)

Sultanova, Madina; Barkhouse, Wayne; Rude, Cody

2018-01-01

The classification of galaxies based on their morphology is a field in astrophysics that aims to understand galaxy formation and evolution based on their physical differences. Whether structural differences are due to internal factors or a result of local environment, the dominate mechanism that determines galaxy type needs to be robustly quantified in order to have a thorough grasp of the origin of the different types of galaxies. The main subject of my Ph.D. dissertation is to explore the use of computers to automatically classify and analyze large numbers of galaxies according to their morphology, and to analyze sub-samples of galaxies selected by type to understand galaxy formation in various environments. I have developed a computer code to classify galaxies by measuring five parameters from their images in FITS format. The code was trained and tested using visually classified SDSS galaxies from Galaxy Zoo and the EFIGI data set. I apply my morphology software to numerous galaxies from diverse data sets. Among the data analyzed are the 15 Abell galaxy clusters (0.03 Frontier Field galaxy clusters. The high resolution of HST allows me to compare distant clusters with those nearby to look for evolutionary changes in the galaxy cluster population. I use the results from the software to examine the properties (e.g. luminosity functions, radial dependencies, star formation rates) of selected galaxies. Due to the large amount of data that will be available from wide-area surveys in the future, the use of computer software to classify and analyze the morphology of galaxies will be extremely important in terms of efficiency. This research aims to contribute to the solution of this problem.

Environments of z~0.2 Star Forming Galaxies: Building on the Citizen Science Discovery of the Green Peas

Science.gov (United States)

Cardamone, Carolin; Cappelluti, Nico; Powell, Meredith; Urry, Meg; Galaxy Zoo Science Team

2018-01-01

‘Green Pea’ galaxies, discovered in the Galaxy Zoo citizen science project, are rare low-mass (M Green Peas and the Luminous Red Galaxies throughout the SDSS footprint, and we find that the population of Green Peas at 0.11population typically reside in under-dense environments.

SDSS-IV MaNGA: stellar population gradients as a function of galaxy environment

Science.gov (United States)

Goddard, D.; Thomas, D.; Maraston, C.; Westfall, K.; Etherington, J.; Riffel, R.; Mallmann, N. D.; Zheng, Z.; Argudo-Fernández, M.; Bershady, M.; Bundy, K.; Drory, N.; Law, D.; Yan, R.; Wake, D.; Weijmans, A.; Bizyaev, D.; Brownstein, J.; Lane, R. R.; Maiolino, R.; Masters, K.; Merrifield, M.; Nitschelm, C.; Pan, K.; Roman-Lopes, A.; Storchi-Bergmann, T.

2017-02-01

We study the internal radial gradients of stellar population properties within 1.5 Re and analyse the impact of galaxy environment. We use a representative sample of 721 galaxies with masses ranging between 109 M⊙ and 1011.5 M⊙ from the SDSS-IV survey MaNGA. We split this sample by morphology into early-type and late-type galaxies. Using the full spectral fitting code FIREFLY, we derive the light and mass-weighted stellar population properties, age and metallicity, and calculate the gradients of these properties. We use three independent methods to quantify galaxy environment, namely the Nth nearest neighbour, the tidal strength parameter Q and distinguish between central and satellite galaxies. In our analysis, we find that early-type galaxies generally exhibit shallow light-weighted age gradients in agreement with the literature and mass-weighted median age gradients tend to be slightly positive. Late-type galaxies, instead, have negative light-weighted age gradients. We detect negative metallicity gradients in both early- and late-type galaxies that correlate with galaxy mass, with the gradients being steeper and the correlation with mass being stronger in late-types. We find, however, that stellar population gradients, for both morphological classifications, have no significant correlation with galaxy environment for all three characterizations of environment. Our results suggest that galaxy mass is the main driver of stellar population gradients in both early and late-type galaxies, and any environmental dependence, if present at all, must be very subtle.

On fitting the full spectrum of luminous red galaxies by using ULySS and STARLIGHT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Gao-Chao; Lu You-Jun; Chen Xue-Lei; Du Wei; Zhao Yong-Heng

2013-01-01

We select a sample of quiescent luminous red galaxies (LRGs) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 with a high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) to study the consistency of fitting the full spectrum by using different packages, mainly, ULySS and STARLIGHT. The spectrum of each galaxy in the sample is fitted by the full spectrum fitting packages ULySS and STARLIGHT. We find: (1) for spectra with higher S/Ns, the ages of stellar populations obtained from ULySS are slightly older than those from STARLIGHT, and metallicities derived from ULySS are slightly richer than those from STARLIGHT. In general, both packages can give roughly consistent fitting results. (2) For low S/N spectra, it is possible that the fitting by ULySS can become trapped at some local minimum in the parameter space during execution and thus may give unreliable results, but STARLIGHT can still give reliable results. Based on the fitting results of LRGs, we further analyze their star formation history and the relation between their age and velocity dispersion, and find that they agree well with conclusions from previous works

A NEW TEST OF THE STATISTICAL NATURE OF THE BRIGHTEST CLUSTER GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Yen-Ting; Ostriker, Jeremiah P.; Miller, Christopher J.

2010-01-01

A novel statistic is proposed to examine the hypothesis that all cluster galaxies are drawn from the same luminosity distribution (LD). In such a 'statistical model' of galaxy LD, the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) are simply the statistical extreme of the galaxy population. Using a large sample of nearby clusters, we show that BCGs in high luminosity clusters (e.g., L tot ∼> 4 x 10 11 h -2 70 L sun ) are unlikely (probability ≤3 x 10 -4 ) to be drawn from the LD defined by all red cluster galaxies more luminous than M r = -20. On the other hand, BCGs in less luminous clusters are consistent with being the statistical extreme. Applying our method to the second brightest galaxies, we show that they are consistent with being the statistical extreme, which implies that the BCGs are also distinct from non-BCG luminous, red, cluster galaxies. We point out some issues with the interpretation of the classical tests proposed by Tremaine and Richstone (TR) that are designed to examine the statistical nature of BCGs, investigate the robustness of both our statistical test and those of TR against difficulties in photometry of galaxies of large angular size, and discuss the implication of our findings on surveys that use the luminous red galaxies to measure the baryon acoustic oscillation features in the galaxy power spectrum.

Young stellar populations in early-type galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Nolan, Louisa A.; Raychaudhury, Somak; Kabán, Ata

2007-02-01

We use a purely data-driven rectified factor analysis to identify early-type galaxies with recent star formation in Data Release 4 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Spectroscopic Catalogue. We compare the spectra and environment of these galaxies with those of `normal' early-type galaxies, and a sample of independently selected E+A galaxies. We calculate the projected local galaxy surface density from the nearest five and 10 neighbours (Σ5 and Σ10) for each galaxy in our sample, and find that the dependence on projected local density, of the properties of E+A galaxies, is not significantly different from that of early-type galaxies with young stellar populations, dropping off rapidly towards denser environments, and flattening off at densities ~10 per cent of the stellar mass in these galaxies. This, together with the similarity of the environments in which this `E+F' population and the E+A galaxy sample are found, suggests that E+F galaxies used to be E+A galaxies, but have evolved by a further ~ one to a few Gyr. Our rectified factor analysis is sensitive enough to identify this hidden population, which allows us to study the global and intrinsic properties of early-type galaxies created in major mergers or interactions, and compare them with those early-types which have had the bulk of their stars in place since a much earlier epoch.

Resolving the age bimodality of galaxy stellar populations on kpc scales

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zibetti, Stefano; Gallazzi, Anna R.; Ascasibar, Y.; Charlot, S.; Galbany, L.; García Benito, R.; Kehrig, C.; de Lorenzo-Cáceres, A.; Lyubenova, M.; Marino, R. A.; Márquez, I.; Sánchez, S. F.; van de Ven, G.; Walcher, C. J.; Wisotzki, L.

2017-01-01

Galaxies in the local Universe are known to follow bimodal distributions in the global stellar population properties. We analyse the distribution of the local average stellar population ages of 654 053 sub-galactic regions resolved on ˜1 kpc scales in a volume-corrected sample of 394 galaxies, drawn

THE GALAXY OPTICAL LUMINOSITY FUNCTION FROM THE AGN AND GALAXY EVOLUTION SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cool, Richard J.; Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Kochanek, Christopher S.; Brown, Michael J. I.; Caldwell, Nelson; Forman, William R.; Hickox, Ryan C.; Jones, Christine; Murray, Stephen S.; Dey, Arjun; Jannuzi, Buell T.; Moustakas, John

2012-01-01

We present the galaxy optical luminosity function for the redshift range 0.05 2 in the Boötes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey. Our statistical sample is composed of 12,473 galaxies with known redshifts down to I = 20.4 (AB). Our results at low redshift are consistent with those from Sloan Digital Sky Survey; at higher redshift, we find strong evidence for evolution in the luminosity function, including differential evolution between blue and red galaxies. We find that the luminosity density evolves as (1 + z) (0.54±0.64) for red galaxies and (1 + z) (1.64±0.39) for blue galaxies.

The weak lensing analysis of the CFHTLS and NGVS RedGOLD galaxy clusters

Science.gov (United States)

Parroni, C.; Mei, S.; Erben, T.; Van Waerbeke, L.; Raichoor, A.; Ford, J.; Licitra, R.; Meneghetti, M.; Hildebrandt, H.; Miller, L.; Côté, P.; Covone, G.; Cuillandre, J.-C.; Duc, P.-A.; Ferrarese, L.; Gwyn, S. D. J.; Puzia, T. H.

2017-12-01

An accurate estimation of galaxy cluster masses is essential for their use in cosmological and astrophysical studies. We studied the accuracy of the optical richness obtained by our RedGOLD cluster detection algorithm tep{licitra2016a, licitra2016b} as a mass proxy, using weak lensing and X-ray mass measurements. We measured stacked weak lensing cluster masses for a sample of 1323 galaxy clusters in the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey W1 and the Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey at 0.2z<0.5, in the optical richness range 10-70. We tested different weak lensing mass models that account for miscentering, non-weak shear, the two-halo term, the contribution of the Brightest Cluster Galaxy, and the intrinsic scatter in the mass-richness relation. We calculated the coefficients of the mass-richness relation, and of the scaling relations between the lensing mass and X-ray mass proxies.

THE GALAXY OPTICAL LUMINOSITY FUNCTION FROM THE AGN AND GALAXY EVOLUTION SURVEY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cool, Richard J. [The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States); Eisenstein, Daniel J. [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Kochanek, Christopher S. [Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University, 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Brown, Michael J. I. [School of Physics, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800 (Australia); Caldwell, Nelson; Forman, William R.; Hickox, Ryan C.; Jones, Christine; Murray, Stephen S. [Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Dey, Arjun; Jannuzi, Buell T. [National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, AZ 85726 (United States); Moustakas, John [Center for Astrophysics and Space Science, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093 (United States)

2012-03-20

We present the galaxy optical luminosity function for the redshift range 0.05 < z < 0.75 from the AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey, a spectroscopic survey of 7.6 deg{sup 2} in the Booetes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey. Our statistical sample is composed of 12,473 galaxies with known redshifts down to I = 20.4 (AB). Our results at low redshift are consistent with those from Sloan Digital Sky Survey; at higher redshift, we find strong evidence for evolution in the luminosity function, including differential evolution between blue and red galaxies. We find that the luminosity density evolves as (1 + z){sup (0.54{+-}0.64)} for red galaxies and (1 + z){sup (1.64{+-}0.39)} for blue galaxies.

Radial distributions of star populations in elliptical galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Angeletti, Lucio; Giannone, Pietro

2010-01-01

The dynamical structure of stars in low-ellipticity early-type galaxies has been approached in a conceptually simple manner by making use of the mass structure inferred from the radial surface brightness and the stellar metal abundance as derived from that of the contracting gas mass when the stars formed. Families of models depending on three parameters can be used to fit the surface radial profiles of spectro-photometric indices. In particular, the behavior of the spectral index Mg 2 is selected, and the observations for eleven galaxies are matched with models. With the fitting values of the free parameters, we have studied the spatial (within the galaxy) and projected (on the image of the galaxy) distributions of the metal abundances. We present the results for three chosen galaxies characterized by rather different values of the fitting parameters. Our results can be of interest for the formation of stellar populations and call attention to the need for more detailed observations.

Stellar population in star formation regions of galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Gusev, Alexander S.; Shimanovskaya, Elena V.; Shatsky, Nikolai I.; Sakhibov, Firouz; Piskunov, Anatoly E.; Kharchenko, Nina V.

2018-05-01

We developed techniques for searching young unresolved star groupings (clusters, associations, and their complexes) and of estimating their physical parameters. Our study is based on spectroscopic, spectrophotometric, and UBVRI photometric observations of 19 spiral galaxies. In the studied galaxies, we found 1510 objects younger than 10 Myr and present their catalogue. Having combined photometric and spectroscopic data, we derived extinctions, chemical abundances, sizes, ages, and masses of these groupings. We discuss separately the specific cases, when the gas extinction does not agree with the interstellar one. We assume that this is due to spatial offset of Hii clouds with respect to the related stellar population.We developed a method to estimate age of stellar population of the studied complexes using their morphology and the relation with associated H emission region. In result we obtained the estimates of chemical abundances for 80, masses for 63, and ages for 57 young objects observed in seven galaxies.

THE EVOLUTION OF DUSTY STAR FORMATION IN GALAXY CLUSTERS TO z = 1: SPITZER INFRARED OBSERVATIONS OF THE FIRST RED-SEQUENCE CLUSTER SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webb, T. M. A.; O'Donnell, D.; Coppin, Kristen; Faloon, Ashley; Geach, James E.; Noble, Allison; Yee, H. K. C.; Gilbank, David; Ellingson, Erica; Gladders, Mike; Muzzin, Adam; Wilson, Gillian; Yan, Renbin

2013-01-01

We present the results of an infrared (IR) study of high-redshift galaxy clusters with the MIPS camera on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. We have assembled a sample of 42 clusters from the Red-Sequence Cluster Survey-1 over the redshift range 0.3 14-15 M ☉ . We statistically measure the number of IR-luminous galaxies in clusters above a fixed inferred IR luminosity of 2 × 10 11 M ☉ , assuming a star forming galaxy template, per unit cluster mass and find it increases to higher redshift. Fitting a simple power-law we measure evolution of (1 + z) 5.1±1.9 over the range 0.3 cluster ). The evolution is similar, with ΣSFR/M cluster ∼ (1 + z) 5.4±1.9 . We show that this can be accounted for by the evolution of the IR-bright field population over the same redshift range; that is, the evolution can be attributed entirely to the change in the in-falling field galaxy population. We show that the ΣSFR/M cluster (binned over all redshift) decreases with increasing cluster mass with a slope (ΣSFR/M cluster ∼M cluster -1.5±0.4 ) consistent with the dependence of the stellar-to-total mass per unit cluster mass seen locally. The inferred star formation seen here could produce ∼5%-10% of the total stellar mass in massive clusters at z = 0, but we cannot constrain the descendant population, nor how rapidly the star-formation must shut-down once the galaxies have entered the cluster environment. Finally, we show a clear decrease in the number of IR-bright galaxies per unit optical galaxy in the cluster cores, confirming star formation continues to avoid the highest density regions of the universe at z ∼ 0.75 (the average redshift of the high-redshift clusters). While several previous studies appear to show enhanced star formation in high-redshift clusters relative to the field we note that these papers have not accounted for the overall increase in galaxy or dark matter density at the location of clusters. Once this is done, clusters at z ∼ 0.75 have the same

Evidence for AGN feedback in low-mass galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Masters, Karen; Penny, Sam; Smethurst, Rebecca; Krawczyk, Coleman; Nichol, Bob; SDSS-IV MaNGA

2018-01-01

Despite being the dominant galaxy population by number in groups and clusters, the formation and quenching mechanism of dwarf galaxies remains unknown. We present evidence for AGN feedback in a subset of 69 quenched low-mass galaxies (M* less than 5e9 Msun, fainter than Mr = -19) selected from the first two years of the MaNGA survey. The majority (85 per cent) of these quenched galaxies appear to reside in a group environment. We find 6 galaxies in our sample that appear to have an active AGN that is preventing on-going star-formation; this is the first time such a feedback mechanism has been observed in this mass range. Interestingly, five of these six galaxies have an ionised gas component that is kinematically offset from their stellar component, suggesting the gas is either recently accreted or outflowing. We hypothesise these six galaxies are low-mass equivalents to the “red geysers” observed in more massive galaxies. Of the other 62 galaxies in the sample, we find 8 do appear to have some low-level, residual star formation, or emission from hot, evolved stars. The remaining galaxies in our sample have no detectable ionised gas emission throughout their structures, consistent with them being quenched. I will show that despite being the "simplest" galaxies in our current models of galaxy formation, these quenched dwarf galaxies are a diverse population.

HST-WFC3 Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of Quenched Galaxies at zeta approx 1.5 from the WISP Survey: Stellar Populations Properties

Science.gov (United States)

Bedregal, A. G.; Scarlata, C.; Henry, A. L.; Atek, H.; Rafelski, M.; Teplitz, H. I.; Dominguez, A.; Siana, B.; Colbert, J. W.; Malkan, M.;

Evolution of galaxies in clusters. V. A study of populations since zapprox.0.5

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butcher, H.; Oemler, A. Jr.

1984-01-01

In this paper we analyze photometry of 33 clusters of galaxies, with redshifts between 0.003 (the Virgo Cluster) and 0.54 (Cl 0016+16) to search for evolution of the colors of cluster populations. In each cluster we select these galaxies brighter than M/sub V/ = -20 which are within the circular area containing the inner 30% of the total Jupiter population. From the distribution of these galaxies in the color-magnitude plane, we determine the fraction of galaxies whose rest-frame B-V colors are at least 0.2 mag bluer than the ridge line of the early type galaxies at that magnitude. We define this to be the blue galaxy population, f/sub B/, and find it to have the following characteristics in compact, concentrated clusters: (1) For z or approx. =0.1 f/sub B/ increases with redshift reaching f/sub B/approx.0.25 at z = 0.5. (3) The values of f/sub B/ seen in clusters at a particular redshift are mostly consistent with clusters being random samples of one homogeneous galaxy population, but there is some evidence that processes within individual clusters may also affect the galaxy content

Interaction effects on galaxy pairs with Gemini/GMOS- III: stellar population synthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Krabbe, A. C.; Rosa, D. A.; Pastoriza, M. G.; Hägele, G. F.; Cardaci, M. V.; Dors, O. L., Jr.; Winge, C.

2017-05-01

We present an observational study of the impacts of interactions on the stellar population in a sample of galaxy pairs. Long-slit spectra in the wavelength range 3440-7300 Å obtained with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) at Gemini South for 15 galaxies in nine close pairs were used. The spatial distributions of the stellar population contributions were obtained using the stellar population synthesis code starlight. Taking into account the different contributions to the emitted light, we found that most of the galaxies in our sample are dominated by young/intermediate stellar populations. This result differs from the one derived for isolated galaxies, where the old stellar population dominates the disc surface brightness. We interpreted such different behaviour as being due to the effect of gas inflows along the discs of interacting galaxies on the star formation over a time-scale of the order of about 2 Gyr. We also found that, in general, the secondary galaxy of a pair has a higher contribution from the young stellar population than the primary one. We compared the estimated values of stellar and nebular extinction derived from the synthesis method and the Hα/Hβ emission-line ratio, finding that nebular extinctions are systematically higher than stellar ones by about a factor of 2. We did not find any correlation between nebular and stellar metallicities. Neither did we find a correlation between stellar metallicities and ages, while a positive correlation between nebular metallicities and stellar ages was obtained, with older regions being the most metal-rich.

CANDELS: THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE OBSERVED GALAXY POPULATION TO COSMIC REIONIZATION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Finkelstein, Steven L.; Pawlik, Andreas H. [Department of Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 (United States); Papovich, Casey [George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843 (United States); Ryan, Russell E.; Ferguson, Henry C.; Koekemoer, Anton M.; Grogin, Norman A. [Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Dickinson, Mark [National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States); Finlator, Kristian [Physics Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States); Giavalisco, Mauro [Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 (United States); Cooray, Asantha [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697 (United States); Dunlop, James S. [Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh (United Kingdom); Faber, Sandy M.; Kocevski, Dale D. [University of California Observatories/Lick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Newman, Jeffrey A., E-mail: stevenf@astro.as.utexas.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy and Pitt-PACC, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States)

2012-10-20

We present measurements of the specific ultraviolet luminosity density from a sample of 483 galaxies at 6 {approx}< z {approx}< 8. These galaxies were selected from new deep near-infrared Hubble Space Telescope imaging from the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey, Hubble UltraDeep Field 2009, and Wide Field Camera 3 Early Release Science programs. We investigate the contribution to reionization from galaxies that we observe directly, thus sidestepping the uncertainties inherent in complementary studies that have invoked assumptions regarding the intrinsic shape or the faint-end cutoff of the galaxy ultraviolet (UV) luminosity function. Due to our larger survey volume, wider wavelength coverage, and updated assumptions about the clumping of gas in the intergalactic medium (IGM), we find that the observable population of galaxies can sustain a fully reionized IGM at z = 6, if the average ionizing photon escape fraction (f {sub esc}) is {approx}30%. Our result contrasts with a number of previous studies that have measured UV luminosity densities at these redshifts that vary by a factor of five, with many concluding that galaxies could not complete reionization by z = 6 unless a large population of galaxies fainter than the detection limit were invoked, or extremely high values of f {sub esc} were present. The specific UV luminosity density from our observed galaxy samples at z = 7 and 8 is not sufficient to maintain a fully reionized IGM unless f {sub esc} > 50%. We examine the contribution from galaxies in different luminosity ranges and find that the sub-L* galaxies we detect are stronger contributors to the ionizing photon budget than the L > L* population, unless f {sub esc} is luminosity dependent. Combining our observations with constraints on the emission rate of ionizing photons from Ly{alpha} forest observations at z = 6, we find that we can constrain f {sub esc} < 34% (2{sigma}) if the observed galaxies are the only contributors to

Extended Red Emission in the Evil Eye Galaxy

Science.gov (United States)

Pierini, D.; Majeed, A.; Boroson, T. A.; Witt, A. N.

2001-05-01

The Evil Eye Galaxy (NGC 4826) is a nearby galaxy with an asymmetrically placed, strongly absorbing dust lane across its prominent bulge, associated to an active star formation (SF) region. We obtained accurate low--resolution (4.2 Å/pixel) spectroscopy (KPNO 4-m) of NGC 4826 in the wavelength range 5300--9100Å with a slit of 4.4' length, positioned across the nucleus of the galaxy and encompassing its bulge size. We were able to study the wavelength dependent effects of absorption and scattering by the dust by comparing the stellar SEDs at corresponding positions on the bulge, symmetrically placed with respect to the nucleus, under the assumption that the intrinsic (i.e. unobscured by the dust lane) ISRF is radially symmetric, except for the ongoing SF region. We report on the detection of strong extended red emission (ERE) from the dust lane of NGC 4826 within a radial distance of about 15{' '} from its nucleus, adjacent to the active SF region. At the nucleus, the ERE band extends from about 5800 Å to 9100 Å, with peak near 8300 Å, and the ERE-to-scattered light integrated intensity ratio is about 0.7. At farther distances, approaching the ongoing SF region, the ERE band and peak shift to longer wavelengths, while the integrated ERE intensity diminishes and, finally, vanishes there. The H α line intensity and the index [NII]λ 6583/H α constrain the Lyman continuum photon rate and the effective temperatures of the OB association stars. The ERE-to-scattered light ratio decreases as well but shows a secondary maximum where the opacity of the dust lane peaks. We interpret the ERE nature as photoluminescence by nanometer--sized clusters, illuminated by UV/visible photons of the local radiation field. When examined within the context of ERE observations in the diffuse ISM of our Galaxy and in a variety of other dusty environments, we conclude that the ERE photon conversion efficiency in NGC 4826 is as high as found elsewhere, but that the characteristic size

Red galaxies at high redshift

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wuyts, Stijn Elisabeth Raphaël

2007-01-01

From its origin at the center of a star to the edge, through the surrounding gas and dust in the distant galaxy, through the intergalactic medium, traveling billions of light years only to be reflected by a mirror and captured by a detector; the little amount of light observed from galaxies in the

Deep spectroscopy of nearby galaxy clusters - IV. The quench of the star formation in galaxies in the infall region of Abell 85

Science.gov (United States)

Aguerri, J. A. L.; Agulli, I.; Méndez-Abreu, J.

2018-06-01

Our aim is to understand the role of the environment in the quenching of star formation of galaxies located in the infall cluster region of Abell 85 (A85). This is achieved by studying the post-starburst galaxy population as tracer of recent quenching. By measuring the equivalent width (EW) of the [O II] and Hδ spectral lines, we classify the galaxies into three groups: passive (PAS), emission line (EL), and post-starburst (PSB) galaxies. The PSB galaxy population represents ˜ 4.5 per cent of the full sample. Dwarf galaxies (Mr > -18.0) account for ˜ 70 - 80 per cent of PSBs, which indicates that most of the galaxies undergoing recent quenching are low-mass objects. Independently of the environment, PSB galaxies are disc-like objects with g - r colour between the blue ELs and the red PAS ones. The PSB and EL galaxies in low-density environments show similar luminosities and local galaxy densities. The dynamics and local galaxy density of the PSB population in high-density environments are shared with PAS galaxies. However, PSB galaxies inside A85 are at shorter clustercentric radius than PAS and EL ones. The value of the EW(Hδ) is larger for those PSBs closer to the cluster centre. We propose two different physical mechanisms producing PSB galaxies depending on the environment. In low-density environments, gas-rich minor mergers or accretions could produce the PSB galaxies. For high-density environments like A85, PSBs would be produced by the removal of the gas reservoirs of EL galaxies by ram-pressure stripping when they pass near the cluster centre.

The Seyfert galaxy population

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meurs, E.

1982-01-01

A large sample of Seyfert galaxies, many of which are Markarian galaxies, has been observed with the WSRT in lambda 21 cm continuum radiation. The results are presented, and the number of radio detected Seyferts has now increased considerably. A number of accurate optical positions are given that were needed to identify radio sources with the Seyfert galaxies observed. Optical and radio luminosity functions of Seyfert galaxies are derived. The results are compared with such functions for other categories of objects that may be related to these galaxies. The discussions focus on the possible connections between normal galaxies, Seyferts, and optically selected quasars. Three investigations are reported on individual objects that are related to Seyfert galaxies. WSRT observations of four bright, optically selected quasars are presented. The identification of an X-ray discovered BL Lacertae object is discussed. Its radio emission is on a much lower level than for other BL Lacs. Perhaps it is a radio-quiet object in this class, suggesting a comparable difference in radio emission for BL Lacs as is known for quasars. Photo-electric photometry for the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1566 is reported. Besides a monitoring programme, multi-aperture photometry is described. (Auth.)

The stellar content of the isolated transition dwarf galaxy DDO210

OpenAIRE

McConnachie, Alan W.; Arimoto, Nobuo; Irwin, Mike; Tolstoy, Eline

2006-01-01

We use Subaru Suprime-Cam and VLT FORS1 photometry of the dwarf galaxy DDO210 to study the global stellar content and structural properties of a transition-type galaxy (with properties intermediate between dwarf irregular and dwarf spheroidal systems). This galaxy is sufficiently isolated that tidal interactions are not likely to have affected its evolution in any way. The colour-magnitude diagrams of DDO210 show a red giant branch (RGB) population (with an RGB bump), a bright asymptotic gian...

Modeling tracers of young stellar population age in star-forming galaxies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levesque, Emily M. [CASA, Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado 389-UCB, Boulder, CO 80309 (United States); Leitherer, Claus, E-mail: Emily.Levesque@colorado.edu [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)

2013-12-20

The young stellar population of a star-forming galaxy is the primary engine driving its radiative properties. As a result, the age of a galaxy's youngest generation of stars is critical for a detailed understanding of its star formation history, stellar content, and evolutionary state. Here we present predicted equivalent widths for the Hβ, Hα, and Brγ recombination lines as a function of stellar population age. The equivalent widths are produced by the latest generations of stellar evolutionary tracks and the Starburst99 stellar population synthesis code, and are the first to fully account for the combined effects of both nebular emission and continuum absorption produced by the synthetic stellar population. Our grid of model stellar populations spans six metallicities (0.001 < Z < 0.04), two treatments of star formation history (a 10{sup 6} M {sub ☉} instantaneous burst and a continuous star formation rate of 1 M {sub ☉} yr{sup –1}), and two different treatments of initial rotation rate (v {sub rot} = 0.0v {sub crit} and 0.4v {sub crit}). We also investigate the effects of varying the initial mass function. Given constraints on galaxy metallicity, our predicted equivalent widths can be applied to observations of star-forming galaxies to approximate the age of their young stellar populations.

Dwarf Galaxies Swimming in Tidal Tails

Science.gov (United States)

2005-01-01

This false-color infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows little 'dwarf galaxies' forming in the 'tails' of two larger galaxies that are colliding together. The big galaxies are at the center of the picture, while the dwarfs can be seen as red dots in the red streamers, or tidal tails. The two blue dots above the big galaxies are stars in the foreground. Galaxy mergers are common occurrences in the universe; for example, our own Milky Way galaxy will eventually smash into the nearby Andromeda galaxy. When two galaxies meet, they tend to rip each other apart, leaving a trail, called a tidal tail, of gas and dust in their wake. It is out of this galactic debris that new dwarf galaxies are born. The new Spitzer picture demonstrates that these particular dwarfs are actively forming stars. The red color indicates the presence of dust produced in star-forming regions, including organic molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These carbon-containing molecules are also found on Earth, in car exhaust and on burnt toast, among other places. Here, the molecules are being heated up by the young stars, and, as a result, shine in infrared light. This image was taken by the infrared array camera on Spitzer. It is a 4-color composite of infrared light, showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange), and 8.0 microns (red). Starlight has been subtracted from the orange and red channels in order to enhance the dust features.

Massive quiescent galaxies at z > 3 in the Millennium simulation populated by a semi-analytic galaxy formation model

Science.gov (United States)

Rong, Yu; Jing, Yingjie; Gao, Liang; Guo, Qi; Wang, Jie; Sun, Shuangpeng; Wang, Lin; Pan, Jun

2017-10-01

We take advantage of the statistical power of the large-volume dark-matter-only Millennium simulation (MS), combined with a sophisticated semi-analytic galaxy formation model, to explore whether the recently reported z = 3.7 quiescent galaxy ZF-COSMOS-20115 (ZF) can be accommodated in current galaxy formation models. In our model, a population of quiescent galaxies with stellar masses and star formation rates comparable to those of ZF naturally emerges at redshifts z 3.5 massive QGs are rare (about 2 per cent of the galaxies with the similar stellar masses), the existing AGN feedback model implemented in the semi-analytic galaxy formation model can successfully explain the formation of the high-redshift QGs as it does on their lower redshift counterparts.

Ultraviolet photometry of stellar populations in galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deharveng, J.M.

1981-01-01

The UV flux of stellar populations, which is essentially emitted by young stars, conveys information on the process of star formation and its recent history. However, the evaluation of the flux arising from the young stellar component may be difficult. In the case of late type galaxies it is hampered by the extinction and the effect of scattered stellar radiation. In the case of early type galaxies, the star formation, if any, has to be disentangled from the contribution of hot evolved stars and of a possible 'active' phenomenon. A review of observations and results relevant two cases is presented [fr

DARK MATTER HALOS IN GALAXIES AND GLOBULAR CLUSTER POPULATIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hudson, Michael J.; Harris, Gretchen L. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1 (Canada); Harris, William E., E-mail: mjhudson@uwaterloo.ca [Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4M1 (Canada)

2014-05-20

We combine a new, comprehensive database for globular cluster populations in all types of galaxies with a new calibration of galaxy halo masses based entirely on weak lensing. Correlating these two sets of data, we find that the mass ratio η ≡ M {sub GCS}/M {sub h} (total mass in globular clusters, divided by halo mass) is essentially constant at (η) ∼ 4 × 10{sup –5}, strongly confirming earlier suggestions in the literature. Globular clusters are the only known stellar population that formed in essentially direct proportion to host galaxy halo mass. The intrinsic scatter in η appears to be at most 0.2 dex; we argue that some of this scatter is due to differing degrees of tidal stripping of the globular cluster systems between central and satellite galaxies. We suggest that this correlation can be understood if most globular clusters form at very early stages in galaxy evolution, largely avoiding the feedback processes that inhibited the bulk of field-star formation in their host galaxies. The actual mean value of η also suggests that about one-fourth of the initial gas mass present in protogalaxies collected into giant molecular clouds large enough to form massive, dense star clusters. Finally, our calibration of (η) indicates that the halo masses of the Milky Way and M31 are (1.2 ± 0.5) × 10{sup 12} M {sub ☉} and (3.9 ± 1.8) × 10{sup 12} M {sub ☉}, respectively.

Infrared photometry of galaxies in the Butcher-Oemler cluster 0024+1654

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lilly, S.J.; Gunn, J.E.

1985-01-01

Infrared photometry is presented for 21 galaxies that are spectroscopically confirmed members of the Butcher-Oemler cluster C10024+1654 at z=0.39. These data are combined with optical CCD photometry and transformed to produce rest-frame UBVK colours. The distribution of colours in the (U-V)/(V-K) plane is analysed. The 11 'red' galaxies have colours that are broadly similar to those of nearby elliptical galaxies. All but one of the 10 'blue' galaxies have the colours of nearby spiral galaxies, including one Im-type galaxy, and other interpretations, e.g. a young age, may be discounted. The (V-K) colour of the remaining 'blue' galaxy, however, suggests the presence of a substantial intermediate age (approx. 1 Gyr) stellar population. (author)

DISSECTING THE RED SEQUENCE. II. STAR FORMATION HISTORIES OF EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES THROUGHOUT THE FUNDAMENTAL PLANE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Graves, Genevieve J.; Faber, S. M.; Schiavon, Ricardo P.

2009-01-01

This analysis uses spectra of ∼16,000 nearby Sloan Digital Sky Survey quiescent galaxies to track variations in galaxy star formation histories (SFHs) along and perpendicular to the fundamental plane (FP). We sort galaxies by their FP properties (σ, R e , and I e ) and construct high signal-to-noise ratio mean galaxy spectra that span the breadth and thickness of the FP. From these spectra, we determine mean luminosity-weighted ages, [Fe/H], [Mg/H], and [Mg/Fe] based on single stellar population models using the method described in Graves and Schiavon. In agreement with previous work, the SFHs of early-type galaxies are found to form a two-parameter family. The major trend is that mean age, [Fe/H], [Mg/H], and [Mg/Fe] all increase with σ. However, no stellar population property shows any dependence on R e at fixed σ, suggesting that σ and not dynamical mass (M dyn ∝ σ 2 R e ) is the better predictor of past SFH. In addition to the main trend with σ, galaxies also show a range of population properties at fixed σ that are strongly correlated with surface brightness residuals from the FP (Δlog I e ), such that higher surface brightness galaxies have younger mean ages, higher [Fe/H], higher [Mg/H], and lower [Mg/Fe] than lower surface brightness galaxies. These latter trends are a major new constraint on SFHs.

The colours of Hubble Sc galaxy nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iskudaryan, S.G.

1975-01-01

The colorimetric data on the nuclei of the Sc galaxies are given. Comparison of the following parameters: color of a nucleus, integral color of a galaxy, Byurakan class, and spectral type of normal spirals gives the possibility to conclude: (1) The colors of the nuclei of the Sc galaxies have a high dispersion in its values. In all Byurakan classes the galaxies with intensely red and blue nuclei occur; (2) Some Sc galaxies exhibit a discrepancy between the spectral and morphological types. The results of colorimetry of nuclei indicate that almost all such Sc galaxies have intensely red nuclei which, naturally, provide for these late spectral types. It can be assumed that the intensely red color of the nuclei of such Sc galaxies is a result of a new type of activity of these nuclei; and (3) some Sc galaxies show the characteristics of the Markarian objects

MOIRCS DEEP SURVEY. V. A UNIVERSAL RELATION FOR STELLAR MASS AND SURFACE BRIGHTNESS OF GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ichikawa, Takashi; Kajisawa, Masaru; Yamada, Toru; Akiyama, Masayuki; Yoshikawa, Tomohiro; Onodera, Masato; Konishi, Masahiro

2010-01-01

We present a universal linear correlation between the stellar mass and surface brightness (SB) of galaxies at 0.3 -2.0∼-0.8 , in addition to dimming as (1 + z) 4 by the cosmological expansion effect. The brightening depends on galaxy color and stellar mass. The blue population (rest-frame U - V -0.8±0.3 in the rest-V band. On the other hand, the red population (U - V>0) and the massive galaxies (M * >10 10 M sun ) show stronger brightening, (1 + z) -1.5±0.1 . By comparison with galaxy evolution models, the phenomena are well understood by the pure luminosity evolution of galaxies out to z ∼ 3.

THE EVOLUTION OF DUSTY STAR FORMATION IN GALAXY CLUSTERS TO z = 1: SPITZER INFRARED OBSERVATIONS OF THE FIRST RED-SEQUENCE CLUSTER SURVEY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Webb, T. M. A.; O' Donnell, D.; Coppin, Kristen; Faloon, Ashley; Geach, James E.; Noble, Allison [McGill University, 3600 rue University, Montreal, QC, H3A 2T8 (Canada); Yee, H. K. C. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 50 St. George St., Toronto, ON, M5S 3H4 (Canada); Gilbank, David [South African Astronomical Observatory, P.O. Box 9, Observatory, 7935 (South Africa); Ellingson, Erica [Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309 (United States); Gladders, Mike [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, 5640 S. Ellis Ave., Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Muzzin, Adam [Leiden Observatory, University of Leiden, Niels Bohrweg 2, NL-2333 CA, Leiden (Netherlands); Wilson, Gillian [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California at Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521 (United States); Yan, Renbin [Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003 (United States)

2013-10-01

We present the results of an infrared (IR) study of high-redshift galaxy clusters with the MIPS camera on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. We have assembled a sample of 42 clusters from the Red-Sequence Cluster Survey-1 over the redshift range 0.3 < z < 1.0 and spanning an approximate range in mass of 10{sup 14-15} M {sub ☉}. We statistically measure the number of IR-luminous galaxies in clusters above a fixed inferred IR luminosity of 2 × 10{sup 11} M {sub ☉}, assuming a star forming galaxy template, per unit cluster mass and find it increases to higher redshift. Fitting a simple power-law we measure evolution of (1 + z){sup 5.1±1.9} over the range 0.3 < z < 1.0. These results are tied to the adoption of a single star forming galaxy template; the presence of active galactic nuclei, and an evolution in their relative contribution to the mid-IR galaxy emission, will alter the overall number counts per cluster and their rate of evolution. Under the star formation assumption we infer the approximate total star formation rate per unit cluster mass (ΣSFR/M {sub cluster}). The evolution is similar, with ΣSFR/M {sub cluster} ∼ (1 + z){sup 5.4±1.9}. We show that this can be accounted for by the evolution of the IR-bright field population over the same redshift range; that is, the evolution can be attributed entirely to the change in the in-falling field galaxy population. We show that the ΣSFR/M {sub cluster} (binned over all redshift) decreases with increasing cluster mass with a slope (ΣSFR/M{sub cluster}∼M{sub cluster}{sup -1.5±0.4}) consistent with the dependence of the stellar-to-total mass per unit cluster mass seen locally. The inferred star formation seen here could produce ∼5%-10% of the total stellar mass in massive clusters at z = 0, but we cannot constrain the descendant population, nor how rapidly the star-formation must shut-down once the galaxies have entered the cluster environment. Finally, we show a clear decrease in the number of IR

LUMINOUS RED GALAXY HALO DENSITY FIELD RECONSTRUCTION AND APPLICATION TO LARGE-SCALE STRUCTURE MEASUREMENTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reid, Beth A.; Spergel, David N.; Bode, Paul

2009-01-01

The nontrivial relationship between observations of galaxy positions in redshift space and the underlying matter field complicates our ability to determine the linear theory power spectrum and extract cosmological information from galaxy surveys. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) luminous red galaxy (LRG) catalog has the potential to place powerful constraints on cosmological parameters. LRGs are bright, highly biased tracers of large-scale structure. However, because they are highly biased, the nonlinear contribution of satellite galaxies to the galaxy power spectrum is large and fingers-of-God (FOGs) are significant. The combination of these effects leads to a ∼10% correction in the underlying power spectrum at k = 0.1 h Mpc -1 and ∼40% correction at k = 0.2 h Mpc -1 in the LRG P(k) analysis of Tegmark et al., thereby compromising the cosmological constraints when this potentially large correction is left as a free parameter. We propose an alternative approach to recovering the matter field from galaxy observations. Our approach is to use halos rather than galaxies to trace the underlying mass distribution. We identify FOGs and replace each FOG with a single halo object. This removes the nonlinear contribution of satellite galaxies, the one-halo term. We test our method on a large set of high-fidelity mock SDSS LRG catalogs and find that the power spectrum of the reconstructed halo density field deviates from the underlying matter power spectrum at the ≤1% level for k ≤ 0.1 h Mpc -1 and ≤4% at k = 0.2 h Mpc -1 . The reconstructed halo density field also removes the bias in the measurement of the redshift space distortion parameter β induced by the FOG smearing of the linear redshift space distortions.

Intrinsic alignments in redMaPPer clusters – I. Central galaxy alignments and angular segregation of satellites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Hung-Jin; Mandelbaum, Rachel; Freeman, Peter E.; Chen, Yen-Chi

2016-01-01

The shapes of cluster central galaxies are not randomly oriented, but rather exhibit coherent alignments with the shapes of their parent clusters as well as with the surrounding large-scale structures. In this work, we aim to identify the galaxy and cluster quantities that most strongly predict the central galaxy alignment phenomenon among a large parameter space with a sample of 8237 clusters and 94 817 members within 0.1 < z < 0.35, based on the red-sequence Matched-filter Probabilistic Percolation cluster catalogue constructed from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We first quantify the alignment between the projected central galaxy shapes and the distribution of member satellites, to understand what central galaxy and cluster properties most strongly correlate with these alignments. Next, we investigate the angular segregation of satellites with respect to their central galaxy major axis directions, to identify the satellite properties that most strongly predict their angular segregation. We find that central galaxies are more aligned with their member galaxy distributions in clusters that are more elongated and have higher richness, and for central galaxies with larger physical size, higher luminosity and centring probability, and redder colour. Satellites with redder colour, higher luminosity, located closer to the central galaxy, and with smaller ellipticity show a stronger angular segregation towards their central galaxy major axes. Lastly, we provide physical explanations for some of the identified correlations, and discuss the connection to theories of central galaxy alignments, the impact of primordial alignments with tidal fields, and the importance of anisotropic accretion.

Looking for Galaxies in All the Right Places: A Search for Stellar Populations in ALFALFA’s Ultra-compact High Velocity Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Janesh, William; Rhode, Katherine L.; Salzer, John J.; Janowiecki, Steven; Adams, Elizabeth; Haynes, Martha P.; Giovanelli, Riccardo; Cannon, John M.

2018-01-01

Nearby gas-rich dwarf galaxies are excellent laboratories for investigating the baryonic feedback processes that govern star formation and galaxy evolution in galaxies at the extreme end of the mass function. Detecting and studying such objects may help resolve the well-known tension between cosmological model predictions for low-mass dark matter halos and observations. The ALFALFA neutral hydrogen (Hi) survey has detected a sample of isolated ultra-compact high-velocity Hi clouds (UCHVCs) with kinematic properties that make them likely members of the Local Volume, but that have no optical counterparts in existing optical surveys. This UCHVC sample possesses Hi properties (at 1 Mpc, Hi masses of ~105-106 M⊙, Hi diameters of ~2-3 kpc, and dynamical masses of ~107-108 M⊙) similar to other known ultra-faint dwarf galaxies like Leo T. Following the discovery of Leo P, an extremely metal-poor, gas-rich star-forming dwarf galaxy associated with an ALFALFA UCHVC, we have initiated a campaign to obtain deep optical imaging of 56 UCHVCs using the wide field-of-view, high-resolution ODI camera on the WIYN 3.5-m telescope. Here we present a brief overview of our campaign to search for resolved stellar populations associated with the UCHVCs in our optical images, and initial results from our survey.After creating a stellar catalog from the pipeline-reduced and stacked ODI g- and i-band images, we apply a color-magnitude filter tuned for old, metal-poor stellar populations to select red giant branch stars at distances between 250 kpc and 2 Mpc. The spatial distribution of the stars selected by the filter is then smoothed, and overdensities in the fields are identified. Of the 22 targets analyzed to date, seven have associated stellar populations detected at a high confidence (92% to 99.9% significance). The detected objects have a range of distances (from 350 kpc to 1.6 Mpc) and have optical properties similar to those of ultra-faint dwarf galaxies. These objects have

Estimating precise metallicity and stellar mass evolution of galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Mosby, Gregory

2018-01-01

The evolution of galaxies can be conveniently broken down into the evolution of their contents. The changing dust, gas, and stellar content in addition to the changing dark matter potential and periodic feedback from a super-massive blackhole are some of the key ingredients. We focus on the stellar content that can be observed, as the stars reflect information about the galaxy when they were formed. We approximate the stellar content and star formation histories of unresolved galaxies using stellar population modeling. Though simplistic, this approach allows us to reconstruct the star formation histories of galaxies that can be used to test models of galaxy formation and evolution. These models, however, suffer from degeneracies at large lookback times (t > 1 Gyr) as red, low luminosity stars begin to dominate a galaxy’s spectrum. Additionally, degeneracies between stellar populations at different ages and metallicities often make stellar population modeling less precise. The machine learning technique diffusion k-means has been shown to increase the precision in stellar population modeling using a mono-metallicity basis set. However, as galaxies evolve, we expect the metallicity of stellar populations to vary. We use diffusion k-means to generate a multi-metallicity basis set to estimate the stellar mass and chemical evolution of unresolved galaxies. Two basis sets are formed from the Bruzual & Charlot 2003 and MILES stellar population models. We then compare the accuracy and precision of these models in recovering complete (stellar mass and metallicity) histories of mock data. Similarities in the groupings of stellar population spectra in the diffusion maps for each metallicity hint at fundamental age transitions common to both basis sets that can be used to identify stellar populations in a given age range.

KILOPARSEC-SCALE PROPERTIES OF EMISSION-LINE GALAXIES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hemmati, Shoubaneh; Miller, Sarah H.; Mobasher, Bahram; Nayyeri, Hooshang [University of California, Riverside, CA 92512 (United States); Ferguson, Henry C.; Koekemoer, Anton M. [Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Guo, Yicheng; Koo, David C. [UCO/Lick Observatory and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Papovich, Casey, E-mail: shoubaneh.hemmati@ucr.edu [Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843 (United States)

2014-12-20

We perform a detailed study of the resolved properties of emission-line galaxies at kiloparsec scales to investigate how small-scale and global properties of galaxies are related. We use a sample of 119 galaxies in the GOODS fields. The galaxies are selected to cover a wide range in morphologies over the redshift range 0.2 < z < 1.3. High resolution spectroscopic data from Keck/DEIMOS observations are used to fix the redshift of all the galaxies in our sample. Using the HST/ACS and HST/WFC3 imaging data taken as a part of the CANDELS project, for each galaxy, we perform spectral energy distribution fitting per resolution element, producing resolved rest-frame U – V color, stellar mass, star formation rate (SFR), age, and extinction maps. We develop a technique to identify ''regions'' of statistical significance within individual galaxies, using their rest-frame color maps to select red and blue regions, a broader definition for what are called ''clumps'' in other works. As expected, for any given galaxy, the red regions are found to have higher stellar mass surface densities and older ages compared to the blue regions. Furthermore, we quantify the spatial distribution of red and blue regions with respect to both redshift and stellar mass, finding that the stronger concentration of red regions toward the centers of galaxies is not a significant function of either redshift or stellar mass. We find that the ''main sequence'' of star-forming galaxies exists among both red and blue regions inside galaxies, with the median of blue regions forming a tighter relation with a slope of 1.1 ± 0.1 and a scatter of ∼0.2 dex compared to red regions with a slope of 1.3 ± 0.1 and a scatter of ∼0.6 dex. The blue regions show higher specific SFRs (sSFRs) than their red counterparts with the sSFR decreasing since z ∼ 1, driven primarily by the stellar mass surface densities rather than the SFRs at a given

Revisiting The First Galaxies: The epoch of Population III stars

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Muratov, Alexander L. [U. Michigan, Dept. Astron.; Gnedin, Oleg Y. [U. Michigan, Dept. Astron.; Gnedin, Nickolay Y. [Chicago U., Astron. Astrophys. Ctr.; Zemp, Marcel [Beijing, KITPC

2013-07-19

We investigate the transition from primordial Population III (Pop III) star formation to normal Pop II star formation in the first galaxies using new cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. We find that while the first stars seed their host galaxies with metals, they cannot sustain significant outflows to enrich the intergalactic medium, even assuming a top-heavy initial mass function. This means that Pop III star formation could potentially continue until z 6 in different unenriched regions of the universe, before being ultimately shut off by cosmic reionization. Within an individual galaxy, the metal production and stellar feedback from Pop II stars overtake Pop III stars in 20-200 Myr, depending on galaxy mass.

Revisiting The First Galaxies: The effects of Population III stars on their host galaxies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Muratov, Alexander L. [U. Michigan, Dept. Astron.; Gnedin, Oleg Y. [U. Michigan, Dept. Astron.; Gnedin, Nickolay Y. [Chicago U., Astron. Astrophys. Ctr.; Zemp, Marcel [Beijing, KITPC

2013-07-12

We revisit the formation and evolution of the first galaxies using new hydrodynamic cosmological simulations with the adaptive refinement tree code. Our simulations feature a recently developed model for H₂ formation and dissociation, and a star formation recipe that is based on molecular rather than atomic gas. Here, we develop and implement a recipe for the formation of metal-free Population III (Pop III) stars in galaxy-scale simulations that resolve primordial clouds with sufficiently high density. We base our recipe on the results of prior zoom-in simulations that resolved the protostellar collapse in pre-galactic objects. We find the epoch during which Pop III stars dominated the energy and metal budget of the first galaxies to be short-lived. Galaxies that host Pop III stars do not retain dynamical signatures of their thermal and radiative feedback for more than 10⁸ years after the lives of the stars end in pair-instability supernovae, even when we consider the maximum reasonable efficiency of the feedback. Though metals ejected by the supernovae can travel well beyond the virial radius of the host galaxy, they typically begin to fall back quickly, and do not enrich a large fraction of the intergalactic medium. Galaxies with a total mass in excess of 3 × 10⁶ M_⊙ re-accrete most of their baryons and transition to metal-enriched Pop II star formation.

THE HST/ACS COMA CLUSTER SURVEY. IV. INTERGALACTIC GLOBULAR CLUSTERS AND THE MASSIVE GLOBULAR CLUSTER SYSTEM AT THE CORE OF THE COMA GALAXY CLUSTER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng, Eric W.; Ferguson, Henry C.; Goudfrooij, Paul; Hammer, Derek; Lucey, John R.; Marzke, Ronald O.; Puzia, Thomas H.; Carter, David; Balcells, Marc; Bridges, Terry; Chiboucas, Kristin; Del Burgo, Carlos; Graham, Alister W.; Guzman, Rafael; Hudson, Michael J.; Matkovic, Ana

2011-01-01

Intracluster stellar populations are a natural result of tidal interactions in galaxy clusters. Measuring these populations is difficult, but important for understanding the assembly of the most massive galaxies. The Coma cluster of galaxies is one of the nearest truly massive galaxy clusters and is host to a correspondingly large system of globular clusters (GCs). We use imaging from the HST/ACS Coma Cluster Survey to present the first definitive detection of a large population of intracluster GCs (IGCs) that fills the Coma cluster core and is not associated with individual galaxies. The GC surface density profile around the central massive elliptical galaxy, NGC 4874, is dominated at large radii by a population of IGCs that extend to the limit of our data (R +4000 -5000 (systematic) IGCs out to this radius, and that they make up ∼70% of the central GC system, making this the largest GC system in the nearby universe. Even including the GC systems of other cluster galaxies, the IGCs still make up ∼30%-45% of the GCs in the cluster core. Observational limits from previous studies of the intracluster light (ICL) suggest that the IGC population has a high specific frequency. If the IGC population has a specific frequency similar to high-S N dwarf galaxies, then the ICL has a mean surface brightness of μ V ∼ 27 mag arcsec -2 and a total stellar mass of roughly 10 12 M sun within the cluster core. The ICL makes up approximately half of the stellar luminosity and one-third of the stellar mass of the central (NGC 4874+ICL) system. The color distribution of the IGC population is bimodal, with blue, metal-poor GCs outnumbering red, metal-rich GCs by a ratio of 4:1. The inner GCs associated with NGC 4874 also have a bimodal distribution in color, but with a redder metal-poor population. The fraction of red IGCs (20%), and the red color of those GCs, implies that IGCs can originate from the halos of relatively massive, L* galaxies, and not solely from the disruption of

Population Synthesis Models for Normal Galaxies with Dusty Disks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyung-Won Suh

2003-09-01

Full Text Available To investigate the SEDs of galaxies considering the dust extinction processes in the galactic disks, we present the population synthesis models for normal galaxies with dusty disks. We use PEGASE (Fioc & Rocca-Volmerange 1997 to model them with standard input parameters for stars and new dust parameters. We find that the model results are strongly dependent on the dust parameters as well as other parameters (e.g. star formation history. We compare the model results with the observations and discuss about the possible explanations. We find that the dust opacity functions derived from studies of asymptotic giant branch stars are useful for modeling a galaxy with a dusty disk.

The hELENa project - I. Stellar populations of early-type galaxies linked with local environment and galaxy mass

OpenAIRE

Sybilska, A.; Lisker, T.; Kuntschner, H.; Vazdekis, A.; van de Ven, G.; Peletier, R.; Falcón-Barroso, J.; Vijayaraghavan, R.; Janz, J.

2017-01-01

We present the first in a series of papers in T$h$e role of $E$nvironment in shaping $L$ow-mass $E$arly-type $N$earby g$a$laxies (hELENa) project. In this paper we combine our sample of 20 low-mass early types (dEs) with 258 massive early types (ETGs) from the ATLAS$^{\\mathrm{3D}}$ survey - all observed with the SAURON integral field unit (IFU) - to investigate early-type galaxies' stellar population scaling relations and the dependence of the population properties on local environment, exten...

Snapshot Survey of the Globular Cluster Populations of Isolated Early Type Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Gregg, Michael

2017-08-01

We propose WFC3/UVIS snapshot observations of a sample of 75 isolated early type galaxiesresiding in cosmic voids or extremely low density regions. The primary aim is to usetheir globular cluster populations to reconstruct their evolutionary history, revealingif, how, and why void ellipticals differ from cluster ellipticals. The galaxies span arange of luminosities, providing a varied sample for comparison with the well-documentedglobular cluster populations in denser environments. This proposed WFC3 study of isolatedearly type galaxies breaks new ground by targeting a sample which has thus far receivedlittle attention, and, significantly, this will be the first such study with HST.Characterizing early type galaxies in voids and their GC systems promises to increase ourunderstanding of galaxy formation and evolution of galaxies in general because isolatedobjects are the best approximation to a control sample that we have for understanding theinfluence of environment on formation and evolution. Whether these isolated objects turnout to be identical to or distinct from counterparts in other regions of the Universe,they will supply insight into the formation and evolution of all galaxies. Parallel ACSimaging will help to characterize the near field environments of the sample.

The SAURON project - XIX. Optical and near-infrared scaling relations of nearby elliptical, lenticular and Sa galaxies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Falcón-Barroso, J.; van de Ven, G.; Peletier, R. F.; Bureau, M.; Jeong, H.; Bacon, R.; Cappellari, M.; Davies, R. L.; de Zeeuw, P. T.; Emsellem, E.; Krajnović, D.; Kuntschner, H.; McDermid, R. M.; Sarzi, M.; Shapiro, K. L.; van den Bosch, R. C. E.; van der Wolk, G.; Weijmans, A.; Yi, S.

2011-01-01

We present ground-based MDM Observatory V-band and Spitzer/InfraRed Array Camera 3.6-?m-band photometric observations of the 72 representative galaxies of the SAURON survey. Galaxies in our sample probe the elliptical E, lenticular S0 and spiral Sa populations in the nearby Universe, both in field

Low-ionization galaxies and evolution in a pilot survey up to z = 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giraud, Edmond; Gu Qiusheng; Melnick, Jorge; Selman, Fernando; Quintana, Hernan; Toledo, Ignacio; Zelaya, Paula

2011-01-01

We present galactic spectroscopic data from a pencil beam of 10.75' x 7.5' centered on the X-ray cluster RXJ0054.0-2823 at z = 0.29. We study the spectral evolution of galaxies from z = 1 down to the cluster redshift in a magnitude-limited sample at R ≤ 23, for which the statistical properties of the sample are well understood. We divide emission-line galaxies into star-forming galaxies, Low Ionization Nuclear Emission line Regions (LINERs), and Seyferts by using emission-line ratios of [OII], Hβ, and [OIII], and derive stellar fractions from population synthesis models. We focus our analysis on absorption and low-ionization galaxies. For absorption-line galaxies, we recover the well-known result that these galaxies have had no detectable evolution since z ∼ 0.6 - 0.7, but we also find that in the range z = 0.65 - 1, at least 50% of the stars in bright absorption systems are younger than 2.5 Gyr Faint absorption-line galaxies in the cluster at z = 0.29 also had significant star formation during the previous 2 - 3 Gyr, but their brighter counterparts seem to be only composed of old stars. At z ∼ 0.8, our dynamically young cluster had a truncated red-sequence. This result seems to be consistent with a scenario where the final assembly of E/S0 took place at z < 1. In the volume-limited range 0.35 ≤ z ≤ 0.65, we find that 23% of the early-type galaxies have LINER-like spectra with Hβ in absorption and have a significant component of A stars. The vast majority of LINERs in our sample have significant populations of young and intermediate-aged stars and are thus not related to AGNs, but to the population of 'retired galaxies' recently identified by Cid Fernandes et al. in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Early-type LINERs with various fractions of A stars and E+A galaxies appear to play an important role in the formation of the red sequence.

The V-K colours of the nuclei of bright galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Penston, M. V.

1973-01-01

Photometric observations of the nuclei of the galaxies M32, M33, M51, NGC5195 and M101 are reported. These give U-B, B-V, H-K and V-K colours for each object and the K-L colour for M32. No short-wavelength infra-red excesses are found. For M32, published population models (Spinrad & Taylor) predict a V-K colour too red to be compatible with the observations.

The effects of assembly bias on the inference of matter clustering from galaxy-galaxy lensing and galaxy clustering

Science.gov (United States)

McEwen, Joseph E.; Weinberg, David H.

2018-04-01

The combination of galaxy-galaxy lensing (GGL) and galaxy clustering is a promising route to measuring the amplitude of matter clustering and testing modified gravity theories of cosmic acceleration. Halo occupation distribution (HOD) modeling can extend the approach down to nonlinear scales, but galaxy assembly bias could introduce systematic errors by causing the HOD to vary with large scale environment at fixed halo mass. We investigate this problem using the mock galaxy catalogs created by Hearin & Watson (2013, HW13), which exhibit significant assembly bias because galaxy luminosity is tied to halo peak circular velocity and galaxy colour is tied to halo formation time. The preferential placement of galaxies (especially red galaxies) in older halos affects the cutoff of the mean occupation function for central galaxies, with halos in overdense regions more likely to host galaxies. The effect of assembly bias on the satellite galaxy HOD is minimal. We introduce an extended, environment dependent HOD (EDHOD) prescription to describe these results and fit galaxy correlation measurements. Crucially, we find that the galaxy-matter cross-correlation coefficient, rgm(r) ≡ ξgm(r) . [ξmm(r)ξgg(r)]-1/2, is insensitive to assembly bias on scales r ≳ 1 h^{-1} Mpc, even though ξgm(r) and ξgg(r) are both affected individually. We can therefore recover the correct ξmm(r) from the HW13 galaxy-galaxy and galaxy-matter correlations using either a standard HOD or EDHOD fitting method. For Mr ≤ -19 or Mr ≤ -20 samples the recovery of ξmm(r) is accurate to 2% or better. For a sample of red Mr ≤ -20 galaxies we achieve 2% recovery at r ≳ 2 h^{-1} Mpc with EDHOD modeling but lower accuracy at smaller scales or with a standard HOD fit. Most of our mock galaxy samples are consistent with rgm = 1 down to r = 1h-1Mpc, to within the uncertainties set by our finite simulation volume.

The effects of assembly bias on the inference of matter clustering from galaxy-galaxy lensing and galaxy clustering

Science.gov (United States)

McEwen, Joseph E.; Weinberg, David H.

2018-07-01

The combination of galaxy-galaxy lensing and galaxy clustering is a promising route to measuring the amplitude of matter clustering and testing modified gravity theories of cosmic acceleration. Halo occupation distribution (HOD) modelling can extend the approach down to non-linear scales, but galaxy assembly bias could introduce systematic errors by causing the HOD to vary with the large-scale environment at fixed halo mass. We investigate this problem using the mock galaxy catalogs created by Hearin & Watson (2013, HW13), which exhibit significant assembly bias because galaxy luminosity is tied to halo peak circular velocity and galaxy colour is tied to halo formation time. The preferential placement of galaxies (especially red galaxies) in older haloes affects the cutoff of the mean occupation function ⟨Ncen(Mmin)⟩ for central galaxies, with haloes in overdense regions more likely to host galaxies. The effect of assembly bias on the satellite galaxy HOD is minimal. We introduce an extended, environment-dependent HOD (EDHOD) prescription to describe these results and fit galaxy correlation measurements. Crucially, we find that the galaxy-matter cross-correlation coefficient, rgm(r) ≡ ξgm(r) . [ξmm(r)ξgg(r)]-1/2, is insensitive to assembly bias on scales r ≳ 1 h-1 Mpc, even though ξgm(r) and ξgg(r) are both affected individually. We can therefore recover the correct ξmm(r) from the HW13 galaxy-galaxy and galaxy-matter correlations using either a standard HOD or EDHOD fitting method. For Mr ≤ -19 or Mr ≤ -20 samples the recovery of ξmm(r) is accurate to 2 per cent or better. For a sample of red Mr ≤ -20 galaxies, we achieve 2 per cent recovery at r ≳ 2 h-1 Mpc with EDHOD modelling but lower accuracy at smaller scales or with a standard HOD fit. Most of our mock galaxy samples are consistent with rgm = 1 down to r = 1 h-1 Mpc, to within the uncertainties set by our finite simulation volume.

GalMod: the last frontier of Galaxy population synthesis models

Science.gov (United States)

Pasetto, Stefano; Kollmeier, Juna; Grebel, Eva K.; chiosi, cesare

2018-01-01

We present a novel Galaxy population synthesis model: GalMod (Pasetto et al. 2016, 2017a,b) is the only star-count model featuring an asymmetric bar/bulge as well as spiral arms as directly obtained by applying linear perturbative theory to self-consistent distribution function of the Galaxy stellar populations. Compared to previous literature models (e.g., Besancon, Trilegal), GalMod allows to generate full-sky mock catalogue, M31 surveys and provides a better match to observed Milky Way (MW) stellar fields.The model can generate synthetic mock catalogs of visible portions of the MW, external galaxies like M31, or N-body simulation initial conditions. At any given time, e.g., a chosen age of the Galaxy, the model contains a sum of discrete stellar populations, namely bulge/bar, disk, halo. The disk population is itself the sum of subpopulations: spiral arms, thin disk, thick disk, and gas component, while the halo is modeled as the sum of a stellar component, a hot coronal gas, and a dark matter component. The Galactic potential is computed from these subpopulations' density profiles and used to generate detailed kinematics by considering the first few moments of the Boltzmann collisionless equation for all the stellar subpopulations. The same density profiles are then used to define the observed color-magnitude diagrams within an input field of view from an arbitrary solar location. Several photometric systems have been included and made available on-line, e.g., SDSS, Gaia, 2MASS, HST WFC3, and others. Finally, we model the extinction with advanced ray tracing solutions.The model's web page (and tutorial) can be accessed at www.GalMod.org.

The Red MSX Source Survey: The Massive Young Stellar Population of Our Galaxy

Science.gov (United States)

Lumsden, S. L.; Hoare, M. G.; Urquhart, J. S.; Oudmaijer, R. D.; Davies, B.; Mottram, J. C.; Cooper, H. D. B.; Moore, T. J. T.

2013-09-01

We present the Red MSX Source survey, the largest statistically selected catalog of young massive protostars and H II regions to date. We outline the construction of the catalog using mid- and near-infrared color selection. We also discuss the detailed follow up work at other wavelengths, including higher spatial resolution data in the infrared. We show that within the adopted selection bounds we are more than 90% complete for the massive protostellar population, with a positional accuracy of the exciting source of better than 2 arcsec. We briefly summarize some of the results that can be obtained from studying the properties of the objects in the catalog as a whole; we find evidence that the most massive stars form: (1) preferentially nearer the Galactic center than the anti-center; (2) in the most heavily reddened environments, suggestive of high accretion rates; and (3) from the most massive cloud cores.

THE RED MSX SOURCE SURVEY: THE MASSIVE YOUNG STELLAR POPULATION OF OUR GALAXY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lumsden, S. L.; Hoare, M. G.; Oudmaijer, R. D.; Cooper, H. D. B.; Urquhart, J. S.; Davies, B.; Moore, T. J. T.; Mottram, J. C.

2013-01-01

We present the Red MSX Source survey, the largest statistically selected catalog of young massive protostars and H II regions to date. We outline the construction of the catalog using mid- and near-infrared color selection. We also discuss the detailed follow up work at other wavelengths, including higher spatial resolution data in the infrared. We show that within the adopted selection bounds we are more than 90% complete for the massive protostellar population, with a positional accuracy of the exciting source of better than 2 arcsec. We briefly summarize some of the results that can be obtained from studying the properties of the objects in the catalog as a whole; we find evidence that the most massive stars form: (1) preferentially nearer the Galactic center than the anti-center; (2) in the most heavily reddened environments, suggestive of high accretion rates; and (3) from the most massive cloud cores

THE RED MSX SOURCE SURVEY: THE MASSIVE YOUNG STELLAR POPULATION OF OUR GALAXY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lumsden, S. L.; Hoare, M. G.; Oudmaijer, R. D.; Cooper, H. D. B. [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT (United Kingdom); Urquhart, J. S. [Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, Bonn (Germany); Davies, B.; Moore, T. J. T. [Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 5RF (United Kingdom); Mottram, J. C. [Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden (Netherlands)

2013-09-01

We present the Red MSX Source survey, the largest statistically selected catalog of young massive protostars and H II regions to date. We outline the construction of the catalog using mid- and near-infrared color selection. We also discuss the detailed follow up work at other wavelengths, including higher spatial resolution data in the infrared. We show that within the adopted selection bounds we are more than 90% complete for the massive protostellar population, with a positional accuracy of the exciting source of better than 2 arcsec. We briefly summarize some of the results that can be obtained from studying the properties of the objects in the catalog as a whole; we find evidence that the most massive stars form: (1) preferentially nearer the Galactic center than the anti-center; (2) in the most heavily reddened environments, suggestive of high accretion rates; and (3) from the most massive cloud cores.

CCD photometry of apparent dwarf galaxies in Fornax

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phillipps, S.; Grimley, P.L.; Disney, M.J.; Cawson, M.G.M.; Kibblewhite, E.J.

1986-01-01

Blue and red CCD surface photometry of two apparent dwarf galaxies in the Fornax cluster region is presented. Luminosity profiles are derived and their form discussed. The fainter galaxy resembles an archetypal diffuse dwarf elliptical but the brighter of the pair is either an unusual red dwarf or a background galaxy in chance juxtaposition. (author)

Investigating a population of infrared-bright gamma-ray burst host galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Chrimes, Ashley A.; Stanway, Elizabeth R.; Levan, Andrew J.; Davies, Luke J. M.; Angus, Charlotte R.; Greis, Stephanie M. L.

2018-04-01

We identify and explore the properties of an infrared-bright gamma-ray burst (GRB) host population. Candidate hosts are selected by coincidence with sources in WISE, with matching to random coordinates and a false alarm probability analysis showing that the contamination fraction is ˜ 0.5. This methodology has already identified the host galaxy of GRB 080517. We combine survey photometry from Pan-STARRS, SDSS, APASS, 2MASS, GALEX and WISE with our own WHT/ACAM and VLT/X-shooter observations to classify the candidates and identify interlopers. Galaxy SED fitting is performed using MAGPHYS, in addition to stellar template fitting, yielding 13 possible IR-bright hosts. A further 7 candidates are identified from previously published work. We report a candidate host for GRB 061002, previously unidentified as such. The remainder of the galaxies have already been noted as potential hosts. Comparing the IR-bright population properties including redshift z, stellar mass M⋆, star formation rate SFR and V-band attenuation AV to GRB host catalogues in the literature, we find that the infrared-bright population is biased toward low z, high M⋆ and high AV. This naturally arises from their initial selection - local and dusty galaxies are more likely to have the required IR flux to be detected in WISE. We conclude that while IR-bright GRB hosts are not a physically distinct class, they are useful for constraining existing GRB host populations, particularly for long GRBs.

The SAURON project : XIX. Optical and near-infrared scaling relations of nearby elliptical, lenticular and Sa galaxies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Falcon-Barroso, J.; van de Ven, G.; Peletier, R. F.; Bureau, M.; Jeong, H.; Bacon, R.; Cappellari, M.; Davies, R. L.; de Zeeuw, P. T.; Emsellem, E.; Krajnovic, D.; Kuntschner, H.; McDermid, R. M.; Sarzi, M.; Shapiro, K. L.; van den Bosch, R.C.E.; van der Wolk, G.; Weijmans, A.; Yi, S.

2011-01-01

We present ground-based MDM Observatory V-band and Spitzer/InfraRed Array Camera 3.6-mu m-band photometric observations of the 72 representative galaxies of the SAURON survey. Galaxies in our sample probe the elliptical E, lenticular S0 and spiral Sa populations in the nearby Universe, both in field

H I-SELECTED GALAXIES IN THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY. II. THE COLORS OF GAS-RICH GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

West, Andrew A.; Garcia-Appadoo, Diego A.; Dalcanton, Julianne J.; Ivezic, Zeljko; Disney, Mike J.; Rockosi, Constance M.

2009-01-01

We utilize color information for an H I-selected sample of 195 galaxies to explore the star formation histories and physical conditions that produce the observed colors. We show that the H I selection creates a significant offset toward bluer colors that can be explained by enhanced recent bursts of star formation. There is also no obvious color bimodality, because the H I selection restricts the sample to bluer, actively star-forming systems, diminishing the importance of the red sequence. Rising star formation rates are still required to explain the colors of galaxies bluer than g - r< 0.3. We also demonstrate that the colors of the bluest galaxies in our sample are dominated by emission lines and that stellar population synthesis models alone (without emission lines) are not adequate for reproducing many of the galaxy colors. These emission lines produce large changes in the r - i colors but leave the g - r color largely unchanged. In addition, we find an increase in the dispersion of galaxy colors at low masses that may be the result of a change in the star formation process in low-mass galaxies.

Evolution of the UV upturn in cluster galaxies: Abell 1689

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, S. S.; Bremer, M. N.; Phillipps, S.; De Propris, R.

2018-05-01

We have measured the strength of the UV upturn for red sequence galaxies in the Abell 1689 cluster at z = 0.18, reaching to or below the L* level and therefore probing the general evolution of the upturn phenomenon. We find that the range of UV upturn strengths in the population as a whole has not declined over the past 2.2 Gyrs. This is consistent with a model where hot horizontal branch stars, produced by a Helium-enriched population, provide the required UV flux. Based on local counterparts, this interpretation of the result implies Helium abundances of at least 1.5 times the primordial value for this HB population, along with high formation and assembly redshifts for the galaxies and at least a subset of their stellar populations.

Calibrating photometric redshifts of luminous red galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padmanabhan, Nikhil; Budavari, Tamas; Schlegel, David J.; Bridges, Terry; Brinkmann, Jonathan

2005-01-01

We discuss the construction of a photometric redshift catalogue of luminous red galaxies (LRGs) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), emphasizing the principal steps necessary for constructing such a catalogue: (i) photometrically selecting the sample, (ii) measuring photometric redshifts and their error distributions, and (iii) estimating the true redshift distribution. We compare two photometric redshift algorithms for these data and find that they give comparable results. Calibrating against the SDSS and SDSS–2dF (Two Degree Field) spectroscopic surveys, we find that the photometric redshift accuracy is σ~ 0.03 for redshifts less than 0.55 and worsens at higher redshift (~ 0.06 for z < 0.7). These errors are caused by photometric scatter, as well as systematic errors in the templates, filter curves and photometric zero-points. We also parametrize the photometric redshift error distribution with a sum of Gaussians and use this model to deconvolve the errors from the measured photometric redshift distribution to estimate the true redshift distribution. We pay special attention to the stability of this deconvolution, regularizing the method with a prior on the smoothness of the true redshift distribution. The methods that we develop are applicable to general photometric redshift surveys.

Kinematics and stellar populations of 17 dwarf early-type galaxies

OpenAIRE

Thomas, D.; Bender, R.; Hopp, U.; Maraston, C.; Greggio, L.

2002-01-01

We present kinematics and stellar population properties of 17 dwarf early-type galaxies in the luminosity range -14> M_B> -19. Our sample fills the gap between the intensively studied giant elliptical and Local Group dwarf spheroidal galaxies. The dwarf ellipticals of the present sample have constant velocity dispersion profiles within their effective radii and do not show significant rotation, hence are clearly anisotropic. The dwarf lenticulars, instead, rotate faster and are, at least part...

The dwarf galaxy population of nearby galaxy clusters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lisker, Thorsten; Wittmann, Carolin; Pak, Mina; Janz, Joachim; Bialas, Daniel; Peletier, Reynier; Grebel, Eva; Falcon Barroso, Jesus; Toloba, Elisa; Smakced Collaboration, Focus Collaboration

The Fornax, Virgo, Ursa Major and Perseus galaxy clusters all have very different characteristics, in terms of their density, mass, and large-scale environment. We can regard these clusters as laboratories for studying environmental influence on galaxy evolution, using the sensitive low-mass

Eight luminous early-type galaxies in nearby pairs and sparse groups. I. Stellar populations spatially analysed

Science.gov (United States)

Rosa, D. A.; Milone, A. C.; Krabbe, A. C.; Rodrigues, I.

2018-06-01

We present a detailed spatial analysis of stellar populations based on long-slit optical spectra in a sample of eight luminous early-type galaxies selected from nearby sparse groups and pairs, three of them may have interaction with another galaxy of similar mass. We have spatially measured luminosity-weighted averages of age, [M/H], [Fe/H], and [α /Fe] in the sample galaxies to add empirical data relative to the influence of galaxy mass, environment, interaction, and AGN feedback in their formation and evolution. The stellar population of the individual galaxies were determined through the well-established stellar population synthesis code starlight using semi-empirical simple stellar population models. Radial variations of luminosity- weighted means of age, [M/H], [Fe/H], and [α /Fe] were quantified up to half of the effective radius of each galaxy. We found trends between representative values of age, [M/H], [α /Fe], and the nuclear stellar velocity dispersion. There are also relations between the metallicity/age gradients and the velocity dispersion. Contributions of 1-4 Gyr old stellar populations were quantified in IC 5328 and NGC 6758 as well as 4-8 Gyr old ones in NGC 5812. Extended gas is present in IC 5328, NGC 1052, NGC 1209, and NGC 6758, and the presence of a LINER is identified in all these galaxies. The regions up to one effective radius of all galaxies are basically dominated by α -enhanced metal-rich old stellar populations likely due to rapid star formation episodes that induced efficient chemical enrichment. On average, the age and [α /Fe] gradients are null and the [M/H] gradients are negative, although discordant cases were found. We found no correlation between the stellar population properties and the LINER presence as well as between the stellar properties and environment or gravitational interaction, suggesting that the influence of progenitor mass cannot be discarded in the formation and evolution of early-type galaxies.

The Resolved Stellar Populations in the LEGUS Galaxies1

Science.gov (United States)

Sabbi, E.; Calzetti, D.; Ubeda, L.; Adamo, A.; Cignoni, M.; Thilker, D.; Aloisi, A.; Elmegreen, B. G.; Elmegreen, D. M.; Gouliermis, D. A.; Grebel, E. K.; Messa, M.; Smith, L. J.; Tosi, M.; Dolphin, A.; Andrews, J. E.; Ashworth, G.; Bright, S. N.; Brown, T. M.; Chandar, R.; Christian, C.; Clayton, G. C.; Cook, D. O.; Dale, D. A.; de Mink, S. E.; Dobbs, C.; Evans, A. S.; Fumagalli, M.; Gallagher, J. S., III; Grasha, K.; Herrero, A.; Hunter, D. A.; Johnson, K. E.; Kahre, L.; Kennicutt, R. C.; Kim, H.; Krumholz, M. R.; Lee, J. C.; Lennon, D.; Martin, C.; Nair, P.; Nota, A.; Östlin, G.; Pellerin, A.; Prieto, J.; Regan, M. W.; Ryon, J. E.; Sacchi, E.; Schaerer, D.; Schiminovich, D.; Shabani, F.; Van Dyk, S. D.; Walterbos, R.; Whitmore, B. C.; Wofford, A.

2018-03-01

The Legacy ExtraGalactic UV Survey (LEGUS) is a multiwavelength Cycle 21 Treasury program on the Hubble Space Telescope. It studied 50 nearby star-forming galaxies in 5 bands from the near-UV to the I-band, combining new Wide Field Camera 3 observations with archival Advanced Camera for Surveys data. LEGUS was designed to investigate how star formation occurs and develops on both small and large scales, and how it relates to the galactic environments. In this paper we present the photometric catalogs for all the apparently single stars identified in the 50 LEGUS galaxies. Photometric catalogs and mosaicked images for all filters are available for download. We present optical and near-UV color–magnitude diagrams for all the galaxies. For each galaxy we derived the distance from the tip of the red giant branch. We then used the NUV color–magnitude diagrams to identify stars more massive than 14 M ⊙, and compared their number with the number of massive stars expected from the GALEX FUV luminosity. Our analysis shows that the fraction of massive stars forming in star clusters and stellar associations is about constant with the star formation rate. This lack of a relation suggests that the timescale for evaporation of unbound structures is comparable or longer than 10 Myr. At low star formation rates this translates to an excess of mass in clustered environments as compared to model predictions of cluster evolution, suggesting that a significant fraction of stars form in unbound systems. Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

A SUBSTANTIAL POPULATION OF MASSIVE QUIESCENT GALAXIES AT z ∼ 4 FROM ZFOURGE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Straatman, Caroline M. S.; Labbé, Ivo [Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden (Netherlands); Spitler, Lee R. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109 (Australia); Allen, Rebecca; Glazebrook, Karl; Kacprzak, Glenn G. [Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University, Hawthorn, VIC 3122 (Australia); Altieri, Bruno [European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC)/ESA, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28691, Madrid (Spain); Brammer, Gabriel B. [European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Córdova 3107, Casilla 19001, Vitacura, Santiago (Chile); Dickinson, Mark; Inami, Hanae [National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, AZ (United States); Van Dokkum, Pieter [Department of Astronomy, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520 (United States); Kawinwanichakij, Lalit; Mehrtens, Nicola; Papovich, Casey [George P. and Cynthia W. Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843 (United States); Kelson, Daniel D.; McCarthy, Patrick J.; Monson, Andy; Murphy, David; Persson, S. Eric; Quadri, Ryan, E-mail: straatman@strw.leidenuniv.nl [Carnegie Observatories, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States); and others

2014-03-01

We report the likely identification of a substantial population of massive M ∼ 10{sup 11} M {sub ☉} galaxies at z ∼ 4 with suppressed star formation rates (SFRs), selected on rest-frame optical to near-IR colors from the FourStar Galaxy Evolution Survey (ZFOURGE). The observed spectral energy distributions show pronounced breaks, sampled by a set of near-IR medium-bandwidth filters, resulting in tightly constrained photometric redshifts. Fitting stellar population models suggests large Balmer/4000 Å breaks, relatively old stellar populations, large stellar masses, and low SFRs, with a median specific SFR of 2.9 ± 1.8 × 10{sup –11} yr{sup –1}. Ultradeep Herschel/PACS 100 μm, 160 μm and Spitzer/MIPS 24 μm data reveal no dust-obscured SFR activity for 15/19(79%) galaxies. Two far-IR detected galaxies are obscured QSOs. Stacking the far-IR undetected galaxies yields no detection, consistent with the spectral energy distribution fit, indicating independently that the average specific SFR is at least 10 × smaller than that of typical star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 4. Assuming all far-IR undetected galaxies are indeed quiescent, the volume density is 1.8 ± 0.7 × 10{sup –5} Mpc{sup –3} to a limit of log{sub 10} M/M {sub ☉} ≥ 10.6, which is 10 × and 80 × lower than at z = 2 and z = 0.1. They comprise a remarkably high fraction (∼35%) of z ∼ 4 massive galaxies, suggesting that suppression of star formation was efficient even at very high redshift. Given the average stellar age of 0.8 Gyr and stellar mass of 0.8 × 10{sup 11} M {sub ☉}, the galaxies likely started forming stars before z = 5, with SFRs well in excess of 100 M {sub ☉} yr{sup –1}, far exceeding that of similarly abundant UV-bright galaxies at z ≥ 4. This suggests that most of the star formation in the progenitors of quiescent z ∼ 4 galaxies was obscured by dust.

The HR diagram for luminous stars in nearby galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Humphreys, R.M.

1978-01-01

Due to the extreme faintness of stars in other galaxies it is only possible to sample the brightest stars in the nearest galaxies. The observations must then be compared with comparable data for the brightest stars, the supergiants and O-type stars, in the Milky Way. The data for the luminous stars are most complete for the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud. The luminosities for the stars in our Galaxy are based on their membership in associations and clusters, and consequently are representative of Population I within approximately 3kpc of the Sun. The data for the stars in the LMC with spectral types O to G8 come from published observations, and the M supergiants are from the author's recent observations of red stars in the LMC. This is the first time that the M supergiants have been included in an HR diagram of the Large Cloud. The presence of the red stars is important for any discussion of the evolution of the massive stars. (Auth.)

Anisotropic Galaxy-Galaxy Lensing in the Illustris-1 Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Brainerd, Tereasa G.

2017-06-01

In Cold Dark Matter universes, the dark matter halos of galaxies are expected to be triaxial, leading to a surface mass density that is not circularly symmetric. In principle, this "flattening" of the dark matter halos of galaxies should be observable as an anisotropy in the weak galaxy-galaxy lensing signal. The degree to which the weak lensing signal is observed to be anisotropic, however, will depend strongly on the degree to which mass (i.e., the dark matter) is aligned with light in the lensing galaxies. That is, the anisotropy will be maximized when the major axis of the projected mass distribution is well aligned with the projected light distribution of the lens galaxies. Observational studies of anisotropic galaxy-galaxy lensing have found an anisotropic weak lensing signal around massive, red galaxies. Detecting the signal around blue, disky galaxies has, however, been more elusive. A possible explanation for this is that mass and light are well aligned within red galaxies and poorly aligned within blue galaxies (an explanation that is supported by studies of the locations of satellites of large, relatively isolated galaxies). Here we compute the weak lensing signal of isolated central galaxies in the Illustris-1 simulation. We compute the anisotropy of the weak lensing signal using two definitions of the geometry: [1] the major axis of the projected dark matter mass distribution and [2] the major axis of the projected stellar mass. On projected scales less than 15% of the virial radius, an anisotropy of order 10% is found for both definitions of the geometry. On larger scales, the anisotropy computed relative to the major axis of the projected light distribution is less than the anisotropy computed relative to the major axis of the projected dark matter. On projected scales of order the virial radius, the anisotropy obtained when using the major axis of the light is an order of magnitude less than the anisotropy obtained when using the major axis of the

Metallicity of Young and Old Stars in Irregular Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Tikhonov, N. A.

2018-01-01

Based on archived images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope, stellar photometry for 105 irregular galaxies has been conducted. We have shown the red supergiant and giant branches in the obtained Hertzsprung-Russel diagrams. Using the TRGB method, distances to galaxies and metallicity of red giants have been determined. The color index ( V - I) of the supergiant branch at the luminosity level M I = -7 was chosen as the metallicity index of red supergiants. For the galaxies under study, the diagrams have been built, in which the correlation can be seen between the luminosity of galaxies ( M B ) and metallicity of red giants and supergiants. The main source of variance of the results in the obtained diagrams is, in our opinion, uncertainty inmeasurements of galaxy luminosities and star-forming outburst. The relation between metallicity of young and old stars shows that main enrichment of galaxies with metals has taken place in the remote past. Deviations of some galaxies in the obtained relation can possibly be explained with the fall of the intergalactic gas on them, although, this inconsiderably affects metallicities of the stellar content.

THE STAR FORMATION HISTORIES OF z ∼ 2 DUST-OBSCURED GALAXIES AND SUBMILLIMETER-SELECTED GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bussmann, R. S.; Dey, Arjun; Jannuzi, B. T.; Armus, L.; Desai, V.; Soifer, B. T.; Brown, M. J. I.; Gonzalez, A. H.; Melbourne, J.

2012-01-01

The Spitzer Space Telescope has identified a population of ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) at z ∼ 2 that may play an important role in the evolution of massive galaxies. We measure the stellar masses (M * ) of two populations of Spitzer-selected ULIRGs that have extremely red R – [24] colors (dust-obscured galaxies, or DOGs) and compare our results with submillimeter-selected galaxies (SMGs). One set of 39 DOGs has a local maximum in their mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectral energy distribution (SED) at rest frame 1.6 μm associated with stellar emission ( b ump DOGs ) , while the other set of 51 DOGs have power-law mid-IR SEDs that are typical of obscured active galactic nuclei ( p ower-law DOGs ) . We measure M * by applying Charlot and Bruzual stellar population synthesis models to broadband photometry in the rest-frame ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared of each of these populations. Assuming a simple stellar population and a Chabrier initial mass function, we find that power-law DOGs and bump DOGs are on average a factor of 2 and 1.5 more massive than SMGs, respectively (median and inter-quartile M * values for SMGs, bump DOGs, and power-law DOGs are log(M * /M ☉ ) = 10.42 +0.42 –0.36 , 10.62 +0.36 –0.32 , and 10.71 +0.40 –0.34 , respectively). More realistic star formation histories drawn from two competing theories for the nature of ULIRGs at z ∼ 2 (major merger versus smooth accretion) can increase these mass estimates by up to 0.5 dex. A comparison of our stellar masses with the instantaneous star formation rate (SFR) in these z ∼ 2 ULIRGs provides a preliminary indication supporting high SFRs for a given M * , a situation that arises more naturally in major mergers than in smooth accretion-powered systems.

The redMaPPer Galaxy Cluster Catalog From DES Science Verification Data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rykoff, E. S. [et al.

2016-04-29

We describe updates to the redMaPPer algorithm, a photometric red-sequence cluster finder specifically designed for large photometric surveys. The updated algorithm is applied to $150\\,\\mathrm{deg}^2$ of Science Verification (SV) data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES), and to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR8 photometric data set. The DES SV catalog is locally volume limited, and contains 786 clusters with richness $\\lambda>20$ (roughly equivalent to $M_{\\mathrm{500c}}\\gtrsim10^{14}\\,h_{70}^{-1}\\,M_{\\odot}$) and 0.2 < $z$ <0.9. The DR8 catalog consists of 26311 clusters with 0.08 < $z$ < 0.6, with a sharply increasing richness threshold as a function of redshift for $z\\gtrsim 0.35$. The photometric redshift performance of both catalogs is shown to be excellent, with photometric redshift uncertainties controlled at the $\\sigma_z/(1+z)\\sim 0.01$ level for $z\\lesssim0.7$, rising to $\\sim0.02$ at $z\\sim0.9$ in DES SV. We make use of $Chandra$ and $XMM$ X-ray and South Pole Telescope Sunyaev-Zeldovich data to show that the centering performance and mass--richness scatter are consistent with expectations based on prior runs of redMaPPer on SDSS data. We also show how the redMaPPer photo-$z$ and richness estimates are relatively insensitive to imperfect star/galaxy separation and small-scale star masks.

ORIGIN OF 12 μm EMISSION ACROSS GALAXY POPULATIONS FROM WISE AND SDSS SURVEYS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donoso, E.; Yan Lin; Tsai, C.; Eisenhardt, P.; Stern, D.; Assef, R. J.; Leisawitz, D.; Jarrett, T. H.; Stanford, S. A.

2012-01-01

We cross-matched Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer sources brighter than 1 mJy at 12 μm with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey galaxy spectroscopic catalog to produce a sample of ∼10 5 galaxies at (z) = 0.08, the largest of its kind. This sample is dominated (70%) by star-forming (SF) galaxies from the blue sequence, with total IR luminosities in the range ∼10 8 -10 12 L ☉ . We identify which stellar populations are responsible for most of the 12 μm emission. We find that most (∼80%) of the 12 μm emission in SF galaxies is produced by stellar populations younger than 0.6 Gyr. In contrast, the 12 μm emission in weak active galactic nuclei (AGNs; L [Oiii] 7 L . ) is produced by older stars, with ages of ∼1-3 Gyr. We find that L 12μm linearly correlates with stellar mass for SF galaxies. At fixed 12 μm luminosity, weak AGNs deviate toward higher masses since they tend to be hosted by massive, early-type galaxies with older stellar populations. SF galaxies and weak AGNs follow different L 12μm -SFR (star formation rate) relations, with weak AGNs showing excess 12 μm emission at low SFR (0.02-1 M ☉ yr –1 ). This is likely due to dust grains heated by older stars. While the specific star formation rate (SSFR) of SF galaxies is nearly constant, the SSFR of weak AGNs decreases by ∼3 orders of magnitude, reflecting the very different star formation efficiencies between SF galaxies and massive, early-type galaxies. Stronger type II AGNs in our sample (L[ Oiii] > 10 7 L . ), act as an extension of massive SF galaxies, connecting the SF and weak AGN sequences. This suggests a picture where galaxies form stars normally until an AGN (possibly after a starburst episode) starts to gradually quench the SF activity. We also find that 4.6-12 μm color is a useful first-order indicator of SF activity in a galaxy when no other data are available.

Post-Starburst Galaxies At The End of The E+A Phase

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Charles; Marinelli, Mariarosa; Chang, Madeleine; Lyczko, Camilla; Vega Orozco, Cecilia; SDSS-IV Collaboration

2018-06-01

Post-starburst galaxies, once thought to be rare curiosities, are now recognized to represent a key phase in the galaxy evolution. The post-starburst, or E+A phase, should however not be considered as a single, short-lived phenomenon; rather, it is an extended evolutionary process that occurs a galaxy transitions from an actively star-forming system into a quiescent one. We present a study of nearby galaxies at or near the end of the E+A phase, wherein all star formation has been quenched, the fossilized stellar population of the most recent starburst is highly localized, and the remainder of the galaxy's stellar population is old and quiescent. The luminosity and stellar age distribution of these "end-phase E+As" can provide insights into the evolution of galaxies onto and within the red sequence, from active to passive systems. This work is supported by National Science Foundation grants to CUNY College of Staten Island and the American Museum of Natural History; the College of Staten Island Office of Academic Affairs; the Sherman Fairchild Science Pathways Scholars Program (SP^2) at Barnard College; and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Distance determinations to shield galaxies from Hubble space telescope imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McQuinn, Kristen B. W.; Skillman, Evan D. [Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, 116 Church Street, S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Cannon, John M.; Cave, Ian [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Macalester College, 1600 Grand Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55105 (United States); Dolphin, Andrew E. [Raytheon Company, 1151 E. Hermans Road, Tucson, AZ 85756 (United States); Salzer, John J. [Department of Astronomy, Indiana University, 727 East 3rd Street, Bloomington, IN 47405 (United States); Haynes, Martha P.; Adams, Elizabeth; Giovanelli, Riccardo [Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Space Sciences Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Elson, Ed C. [Astrophysics, Cosmology and Gravity Centre (ACGC), Department of Astronomy, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701 (South Africa); Ott, Juërgen [National Radio Astronomy Observatory, P.O. Box O, 1003 Lopezville Road, Socorro, NM 87801 (United States); Saintonge, Amélie, E-mail: kmcquinn@astro.umn.edu [Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics, D-85741 Garching (Germany)

2014-04-10

The Survey of H I in Extremely Low-mass Dwarf (SHIELD) galaxies is an ongoing multi-wavelength program to characterize the gas, star formation, and evolution in gas-rich, very low-mass galaxies. The galaxies were selected from the first ∼10% of the H I Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) survey based on their inferred low H I mass and low baryonic mass, and all systems have recent star formation. Thus, the SHIELD sample probes the faint end of the galaxy luminosity function for star-forming galaxies. Here, we measure the distances to the 12 SHIELD galaxies to be between 5 and 12 Mpc by applying the tip of the red giant method to the resolved stellar populations imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope. Based on these distances, the H I masses in the sample range from 4 × 10{sup 6} to 6 × 10{sup 7} M {sub ☉}, with a median H I mass of 1 × 10{sup 7} M {sub ☉}. The tip of the red giant branch distances are up to 73% farther than flow-model estimates in the ALFALFA catalog. Because of the relatively large uncertainties of flow-model distances, we are biased toward selecting galaxies from the ALFALFA catalog where the flow model underestimates the true distances. The measured distances allow for an assessment of the native environments around the sample members. Five of the galaxies are part of the NGC 672 and NGC 784 groups, which together constitute a single structure. One galaxy is part of a larger linear ensemble of nine systems that stretches 1.6 Mpc from end to end. Three galaxies reside in regions with 1-9 neighbors, and four galaxies are truly isolated with no known system identified within a radius of 1 Mpc.

GALAXY CLUSTERS AT HIGH REDSHIFT AND EVOLUTION OF BRIGHTEST CLUSTER GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wen, Z. L.; Han, J. L.

2011-01-01

Identification of high-redshift clusters is important for studies of cosmology and cluster evolution. Using photometric redshifts of galaxies, we identify 631 clusters from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) wide field, 202 clusters from the CFHT deep field, 187 clusters from the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field, and 737 clusters from the Spitzer Wide-area InfraRed Extragalactic Survey (SWIRE) field. The redshifts of these clusters are in the range 0.1 ∼ + - m 3.6 μ m colors of the BCGs are consistent with a stellar population synthesis model in which the BCGs are formed at redshift z f ≥ 2 and evolved passively. The g' - z' and B - m 3.6μm colors of the BCGs at redshifts z > 0.8 are systematically bluer than the passive evolution model for galaxies formed at z f ∼ 2, indicating star formation in high-redshift BCGs.

Photometric analyses of abundances in dwarf spheroidal galaxies and globular clusters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Light, R.M.

1988-01-01

This study investigated the abundance characteristics of several dwarf spheroidal galaxies. The chemical properties of stars in these galaxies are tracers of the origin and evolution of their stellar populations, and thus can provide constraints on the theories of their formation. To derive this abundance information, photometric observations of stars in a sample of globular clusters, covering a large range in metallicity, were analyzed. Parameters describing the position of the red giant branch were found to correlate very well with cluster metallicity over a large range in abundance. These measurements, made in the Thuan-Gunn photometry system, provide ranking schemes which are, with accurate photometry, more sensitive to changes in metallicity than similar broadband BV parameters. The relations were used to derive an improved estimate of the metallicity of cluster NGC 5053. These metallicity relations were used to analyze the Thuan-Gunn system photometry produced for the Sculptor, Ursa Minor, and Carina galaxies. The excellent agreement between their metallicities and those from other previous studies indicates that globular cluster red giant branch parameters are very useful in ranking dwarf spheroidal populations by metallicity. Together with other galaxian data, strong correlations can be seen between the mean metallicities and dispersions in metallicity and the luminosities of the dwarf spheroidal galaxies. These trends also seem to apply to members of the dwarf elliptical class of galaxies. The ramifications that these correlations and the existence of a metallicity gradient in Sculptor have on the formation of the dwarf spheroidals are discussed

Morphologies and stellar populations of galaxies in the core of Abell 2218

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sánchez, S. F.; Cardiel, N.; Verheijen, M. A. W.; Pedraz, S.; Covone, G.

2007-01-01

We present a study of the stellar populations and morphologies of galaxies in the core of the galaxy cluster Abell 2218. Integral field spectroscopy (IFS) observations were performed using PMAS in the PPAK mode covering a field of view of similar to 74 x 64 arcsec(2) centred on the core of the

SHOCKED POSTSTARBUST GALAXY SURVEY. I. CANDIDATE POST-STARBUST GALAXIES WITH EMISSION LINE RATIOS CONSISTENT WITH SHOCKS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alatalo, Katherine; Rich, Jeffrey A. [Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States); Cales, Sabrina L. [Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Physics Department, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511 (United States); Appleton, Philip N.; Lanz, Lauranne [Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Kewley, Lisa J.; Medling, Anne M. [Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Cotter Road, Weston ACT 2611 (Australia); Lacy, Mark; Nyland, Kristina, E-mail: kalatalo@carnegiescience.edu [National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States)

2016-06-01

There are many mechanisms by which galaxies can transform from blue, star-forming spirals, to red, quiescent early-type galaxies, but our current census of them does not form a complete picture. Recent observations of nearby case studies have identified a population of galaxies that quench “quietly.” Traditional poststarburst searches seem to catch galaxies only after they have quenched and transformed, and thus miss any objects with additional ionization mechanisms exciting the remaining gas. The Shocked POststarburst Galaxy Survey (SPOGS) aims to identify transforming galaxies, in which the nebular lines are excited via shocks instead of through star formation processes. Utilizing the Oh-Sarzi-Schawinski-Yi (OSSY) measurements on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 catalog, we applied Balmer absorption and shock boundary criteria to identify 1067 SPOG candidates (SPOGs*) within z = 0.2. SPOGs* represent 0.2% of the OSSY sample galaxies that exceed the continuum signal-to-noise cut (and 0.7% of the emission line galaxy sample). SPOGs* colors suggest that they are in an earlier phase of transition than OSSY galaxies that meet an “E+A” selection. SPOGs* have a 13% 1.4 GHz detection rate from the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty Centimeters Survey, higher than most other subsamples, and comparable only to low-ionization nuclear emission line region hosts, suggestive of the presence of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). SPOGs* also have stronger Na i D absorption than predicted from the stellar population, suggestive of cool gas being driven out in galactic winds. It appears that SPOGs* represent an earlier phase in galaxy transformation than traditionally selected poststarburst galaxies, and that a large proportion of SPOGs* also have properties consistent with disruption of their interstellar media, a key component to galaxy transformation. It is likely that many of the known pathways to transformation undergo a SPOG phase. Studying this sample of

The evolution of the cluster optical galaxy luminosity function between z = 0.4 and 0.9 in the DAFT/FADA survey

Science.gov (United States)

Martinet, Nicolas; Durret, Florence; Guennou, Loïc; Adami, Christophe; Biviano, Andrea; Ulmer, Melville P.; Clowe, Douglas; Halliday, Claire; Ilbert, Olivier; Márquez, Isabel; Schirmer, Mischa

2015-03-01

Context. There is some disagreement about the abundance of faint galaxies in high-redshift clusters, with contradictory results in the literature arising from studies of the optical galaxy luminosity function (GLF) for small cluster samples. Aims: We compute GLFs for one of the largest medium-to-high-redshift (0.4 ≤ z DAFT/FADA survey in the B,V,R, and I rest-frame bands. We used photometric redshifts computed from BVRIZJ images to constrain galaxy cluster membership. We carried out a detailed estimate of the completeness of our data. We distinguished the red-sequence and blue galaxies using a V - I versus I colour-magnitude diagram. We studied the evolution of these two populations with redshift. We fitted Schechter functions to our stacked GLFs to determine average cluster characteristics. Results: We find that the shapes of our GLFs are similar for the B,V,R, and I bands with a drop at the red GLF faint ends that is more pronounced at high redshift: αred ~ -0.5 at 0.40 ≤ z 0.1 at 0.65 ≤ z < 0.90. The blue GLFs have a steeper faint end (αblue ~ -1.6) than the red GLFs, which appears to be independent of redshift. For the full cluster sample, blue and red GLFs meet at MV = -20, MR = -20.5, and MI = -20.3. A study of how galaxy types evolve with redshift shows that late-type galaxies appear to become early types between z ~ 0.9 and today. Finally, the faint ends of the red GLFs of more massive clusters appear to be richer than less massive clusters, which is more typical of the lower redshift behaviour. Conclusions: Our results indicate that these clusters form at redshifts higher than z = 0.9 from galaxy structures that already have an established red sequence. Late-type galaxies then appear to evolve into early types, enriching the red sequence between this redshift and today. This effect is consistent with the evolution of the faint-end slope of the red sequence and the galaxy type evolution that we find. Finally, faint galaxies accreted from the field

High resolution spectroscopy of Red Giant Branch stars and the chemical evolution of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lemasle, B.; de Boer, T. J. L.; Hill, V.; Tolstoy, E.; Irwin, M. J.; Jablonka, P.; Venn, K.; Battaglia, G.; Starkenburg, E.; Shetrone, M.; Letarte, B.; Francois, P.; Helmi, A.; Primas, F.; Kaufer, A.; Szeifert, T.; Ballet, J.; Martins, F.; Bournaud, F.; Monier, R.; Reylé, C.

2014-01-01

From VLT-FLAMES high-resolution spectra, we determine the abundances of several α, iron-peak and neutron-capture elements in 47 Red Giant Branch stars in the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy. We confirm that SNe Ia started to contribute to the chemical enrichment of Fornax at [Fe/H] between --2.0 and

Isolated galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Einasto, Maret

1990-01-01

To test for the possible presence of really isolated galaxies, which form a randomly distributed population in voids, we compare the distribution of most isolated galaxies in an observed sample with distributions of the same number of random points using the nearest neighbour test. The results show that the random population of really isolated galaxies does not exist - even the most isolated galaxies are connected with systems of galaxies, forming their outlying parts. (author)

The blue host galaxy of the red GRB 000418

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gorosabel, J.; Klose, S.; Christensen, L.

2003-01-01

We report on multi-band (UBVRIZJ(s)K(s)) observations of the host galaxy of the April 18, 2000 gamma-ray burst. The Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) is analysed by fitting empirical and synthetic spectral templates. We find that: (i) the best SED fit is obtained with a starburst template, (ii) ...... structures (like dust lanes, spiral arms or disks). A natural scenario which accounts of all the above results is a nuclear starburst that harbours a young population of stars from which the GRB originated....

Anomalous evolution of the dwarf galaxy HIPASS J1321-31

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pritzl, BJ; Knezek, PM; Gallagher, JS; Grossi, M; Disney, MJ; Minchin, RF; Freeman, KC; Tolstoy, E; Saha, A

2003-01-01

We present Hubble Space Telescope/WFPC2 observations of the dwarf galaxy HIPASS J1321-31. This unusual galaxy lies in the direction of the Centaurus A group of galaxies and has a color-magnitude diagram with a distinctive red plume of luminous stars. This feature could arise from (1) a red giant

Population of the Galaxy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Troitskii, V.

1981-01-01

A new theory of the population of the Galaxy, based on the hypothesis of explosive: simultaneous and one-time-origination of life in the universe at a certain moment of its evolutionary development, is discussed in the report. According to the proposed theory, civilizations began to arise around the present moment of the history of the universe. Their possible number is limited even when their lifetime is unlimited. The age and number of simultaneously existing civilizations when their lifetime is unlimited is determined by the duration and dispersion of the time of evolution of life on different planets from the cell level to civilization. The proposed theory explains better than Drake's theory the negative results of the search for evidence of the existence of superpowerful extraterrestrial civilizations and the noncolonization of the earth

INSPIRALLING SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES: A NEW SIGNPOST FOR GALAXY MERGERS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Comerford, Julia M.; Gerke, Brian F.; Newman, Jeffrey A.; Davis, Marc; Yan, Renbin; Cooper, Michael C.; Coil, Alison L.; Faber, S. M.; Koo, David C.; Rosario, D. J.; Dutton, Aaron A.

2009-01-01

We present a new technique for observationally identifying galaxy mergers spectroscopically rather than through host galaxy imaging. Our technique exploits the dynamics of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) powering active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in merger-remnant galaxies. Because structure in the universe is built up through galaxy mergers and nearly all galaxies host a central SMBH, some galaxies should possess two SMBHs near their centers as the result of a recent merger. These SMBHs spiral to the center of the resultant merger-remnant galaxy, and one or both of the SMBHs may power AGNs. Using the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey, we have examined 1881 red galaxies, of which 91 exhibit [O III] and Hβ emission lines indicative of Seyfert 2 activity. Of these, 32 AGNs have [O III] emission-line redshifts significantly different from the redshifts of the host galaxies' stars, corresponding to velocity offsets of ∼50 km s -1 to ∼300 km s -1 . Two of these AGNs exhibit double-peaked [O III] emission lines, while the remaining 30 AGNs each exhibit a single set of velocity-offset [O III] emission lines. After exploring a variety of physical models for these velocity offsets, we argue that the most likely explanation is inspiralling SMBHs in merger-remnant galaxies. Based on this interpretation, we find that roughly half of the red galaxies hosting AGNs are also merger remnants, which implies that mergers may trigger AGN activity in red galaxies. The AGN velocity offsets we find imply a merger fraction of ∼30% and a merger rate of ∼3 mergers Gyr -1 for red galaxies at redshifts 0.34 < z < 0.82.

The AGN Population in Nearby Galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Filho, Mercedes; Barthel, Peter; Ho, Luis

2006-01-01

In order to determine the incidence of black hole accretion-driven nuclear activity in nearby galaxies, we have compiled radio data for the LINERs, composite LINER,/Hn and Seyfert galaxies from a complete magnitude-limited sample of bright nearby galaxies (Palomar sample). Our results show an overall radio detection rate of 54% (22% of all bright nearby galaxies) and we estimate that at least ∼50% (∼20% of all bright nearby galaxies) are true AGN. By comparing the radio luminosity function of the LINERs, composite LINER/Hll and Seyferts galaxies in the Palomar sample with those of selected moderate-redshift AGN, we fhd that our sources naturally extend the radio luminosity function of powerful AGN down to powers of about 10 times that of Sgr A*

Stellar populations in distant radio galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lilly, S.J.; Longair, M.S.

1984-01-01

A homogeneous data set of infrared observations of 83 3CR galaxies with redshifts 0< z<1.6, selected from a statistically complete sample of 90 radio sources, is used to study the colours and magnitudes of these galaxies as a function of their redshifts. New infrared observations are presented for 66 radio galaxies, in addition to new optical results obtained from a re-analysis of existing CCD images. It is shown that the infrared colours do not deviate from the predicted relations with redshift for a standard giant elliptical galaxy spectrum. The optical to infrared colours, however, show substantial deviations at high redshift. No galaxies have been found that are significantly redder than a passively evolving galaxy, and there is a significant scatter of colours bluewards from this model. The excess of ultraviolet light responsible for these colours is not concentrated at the nucleus, and is interpreted as resulting from bursts of star formation, throughout the galaxy. (author)

The E-MOSAICS project: simulating the formation and co-evolution of galaxies and their star cluster populations

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeffer, Joel; Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik; Crain, Robert A.; Bastian, Nate

2018-04-01

We introduce the MOdelling Star cluster population Assembly In Cosmological Simulations within EAGLE (E-MOSAICS) project. E-MOSAICS incorporates models describing the formation, evolution, and disruption of star clusters into the EAGLE galaxy formation simulations, enabling the examination of the co-evolution of star clusters and their host galaxies in a fully cosmological context. A fraction of the star formation rate of dense gas is assumed to yield a cluster population; this fraction and the population's initial properties are governed by the physical properties of the natal gas. The subsequent evolution and disruption of the entire cluster population are followed accounting for two-body relaxation, stellar evolution, and gravitational shocks induced by the local tidal field. This introductory paper presents a detailed description of the model and initial results from a suite of 10 simulations of ˜L⋆ galaxies with disc-like morphologies at z = 0. The simulations broadly reproduce key observed characteristics of young star clusters and globular clusters (GCs), without invoking separate formation mechanisms for each population. The simulated GCs are the surviving population of massive clusters formed at early epochs (z ≳ 1-2), when the characteristic pressures and surface densities of star-forming gas were significantly higher than observed in local galaxies. We examine the influence of the star formation and assembly histories of galaxies on their cluster populations, finding that (at similar present-day mass) earlier-forming galaxies foster a more massive and disruption-resilient cluster population, while galaxies with late mergers are capable of forming massive clusters even at late cosmic epochs. We find that the phenomenological treatment of interstellar gas in EAGLE precludes the accurate modelling of cluster disruption in low-density environments, but infer that simulations incorporating an explicitly modelled cold interstellar gas phase will overcome

SPECTROSCOPIC CONFIRMATION OF A MASSIVE RED-SEQUENCE-SELECTED GALAXY CLUSTER AT z = 1.34 IN THE SpARCS-SOUTH CLUSTER SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, Gillian; Demarco, Ricardo; Muzzin, Adam; Yee, H. K. C.; Lacy, Mark; Surace, Jason; Gilbank, David; Blindert, Kris; Hoekstra, Henk; Majumdar, Subhabrata; Gardner, Jonathan P.; Gladders, Michael D.; Lonsdale, Carol

2009-01-01

The Spitzer Adaptation of the Red-sequence Cluster Survey (SpARCS) is a z'-passband imaging survey, consisting of deep (z' ≅ 24 AB) observations made from both hemispheres using the CFHT 3.6 m and CTIO 4 m telescopes. The survey was designed with the primary aim of detecting galaxy clusters at z > 1. In tandem with pre-existing 3.6 μm observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope SWIRE Legacy Survey, SpARCS detects clusters using an infrared adaptation of the two-filter red-sequence cluster technique. The total effective area of the SpARCS cluster survey is 41.9 deg 2 . In this paper, we provide an overview of the 13.6 deg 2 Southern CTIO/MOSAIC II observations. The 28.3 deg 2 Northern CFHT/MegaCam observations are summarized in a companion paper by Muzzin et al. In this paper, we also report spectroscopic confirmation of SpARCS J003550-431224, a very rich galaxy cluster at z = 1.335, discovered in the ELAIS-S1 field. To date, this is the highest spectroscopically confirmed redshift for a galaxy cluster discovered using the red-sequence technique. Based on nine confirmed members, SpARCS J003550-431224 has a preliminary velocity dispersion of 1050 ± 230 km s -1 . With its proven capability for efficient cluster detection, SpARCS is a demonstration that we have entered an era of large, homogeneously selected z > 1 cluster surveys.

Hot Gas Halos in Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Mulchaey, John

Most galaxy formation models predict that massive low-redshift disk galaxies are embedded in extended hot halos of externally accreted gas. Such gas appears necessary to maintain ongoing star formation in isolated spirals like the Milky Way. To explain the large population of red galaxies in rich groups and clusters, most galaxy evolution models assume that these hot gas halos are stripped completely when a galaxy enters a denser environment. This simple model has been remarkably successful at reproducing many observed properties of galaxies. Although theoretical arguments suggest hot gas halos are an important component in galaxies, we know very little about this gas from an observational standpoint. In fact, previous observations have failed to detect soft X-ray emission from such halos in disk galaxies. Furthermore, the assumption that hot gas halos are stripped completely when a galaxy enters a group or cluster has not been verified. We propose to combine proprietary and archival XMM-Newton observations of galaxies in the field, groups and clusters to study how hot gas halos are impacted by environment. Our proposed program has three components: 1) The deepest search to date for a hot gas halo in a quiescent spiral galaxy. A detection will confirm a basic tenet of disk galaxy formation models, whereas a non-detection will seriously challenge these models and impose new constraints on the growth mode and feedback history of disk galaxies. 2) A detailed study of the hot gas halos properties of field early-type galaxies. As environmental processes such as stripping are not expected to be important in the field, a study of hot gas halos in this environment will allow us to better understand how feedback and other internal processes impact hot gas halos. 3) A study of hot gas halos in the outskirts of groups and clusters. By comparing observations with our suite of simulations we can begin to understand what role the stripping of hot gas halos plays in galaxy

Population III Stars and Remnants in High-redshift Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Hao; Wise, John H.; Norman, Michael L.

2013-08-01

Recent simulations of Population III star formation have suggested that some fraction form in binary systems, in addition to having a characteristic mass of tens of solar masses. The deaths of metal-free stars result in the initial chemical enrichment of the universe and the production of the first stellar-mass black holes. Here we present a cosmological adaptive mesh refinement simulation of an overdense region that forms a few 109 M ⊙ dark matter halos and over 13,000 Population III stars by redshift 15. We find that most halos do not form Population III stars until they reach M vir ~ 107 M ⊙ because this biased region is quickly enriched from both Population III and galaxies, which also produce high levels of ultraviolet radiation that suppress H2 formation. Nevertheless, Population III stars continue to form, albeit in more massive halos, at a rate of ~10-4 M ⊙ yr-1 Mpc-3 at redshift 15. The most massive starless halo has a mass of 7 × 107 M ⊙, which could host massive black hole formation through the direct gaseous collapse scenario. We show that the multiplicity of the Population III remnants grows with halo mass above 108 M ⊙, culminating in 50 remnants located in 109 M ⊙ halos on average. This has implications that high-mass X-ray binaries and intermediate-mass black holes that originate from metal-free stars may be abundant in high-redshift galaxies.

TOPOLOGY OF LUMINOUS RED GALAXIES FROM THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Yun-Young; Kim, Juhan; Rossi, Graziano; Kim, Sungsoo S.; Lee, Jeong-Eun

2013-01-01

We present measurements of the genus topology of luminous red galaxies (LRGs) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 catalog, with unprecedented statistical significance. To estimate the uncertainties in the measured genus, we construct 81 mock SDSS LRG surveys along the past light cone from Horizon Run 3, one of the largest N-body simulations to date, which evolved 7210 3 particles in a 10,815 h –1  Mpc box. After carefully modeling and removing all known systematic effects due to finite pixel size, survey boundary, radial and angular selection functions, shot noise, and galaxy biasing, we find that the observed genus amplitude reaches 272 at a 22 h –1  Mpc smoothing scale, with an uncertainty of 4.2%; the estimated error fully incorporates cosmic variance. This is the most accurate constraint on the genus amplitude to date and significantly improves on our previous results. In particular, the shape of the genus curve agrees very well with the mean topology of the SDSS LRG mock surveys in a Λ cold dark matter universe. However, comparison with simulations also shows small deviations of the observed genus curve from the theoretical expectation for Gaussian initial conditions. While these discrepancies are mainly driven by known systematic effects such as shot noise and redshift-space distortions, they do contain important cosmological information on the physical effects connected with galaxy formation, gravitational evolution, and primordial non-Gaussianity. We address the key role played by systematics on the genus curve and show how to accurately correct for their effects to recover the topology of the underlying matter. A future work will provide an interpretation of these deviations in the context of the local model of non-Gaussianity

Distant Galaxy Clusters Hosting Extreme Central Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Michael

2014-09-01

The recently-discovered Phoenix cluster harbors the most star-forming central cluster galaxy of any cluster in the known Universe, by nearly a factor of 10. This extreme system appears to be fulfilling early cooling flow predictions, although the lack of similar systems makes any interpretation difficult. In an attempt to find other "Phoenix-like" clusters, we have cross-correlated archival all-sky surveys (in which Phoenix was detected) and isolated 4 similarly-extreme systems which are also coincident in position and redshift with an overdensity of red galaxies. We propose here to obtain Chandra observations of these extreme, Phoenix-like systems, in order to confirm them as relaxed, rapidly-cooling galaxy clusters.

CHARACTERIZING ULTRAVIOLET AND INFRARED OBSERVATIONAL PROPERTIES FOR GALAXIES. I. INFLUENCES OF DUST ATTENUATION AND STELLAR POPULATION AGE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mao Yewei; Kong Xu; Kennicutt, Robert C. Jr.; Hao, Cai-Na; Zhou Xu

2012-01-01

The correlation between infrared-to-ultraviolet luminosity ratio and ultraviolet color (or ultraviolet spectral slope), i.e., the IRX-UV (or IRX-β) relation, found in studies of starburst galaxies is a prevalent recipe for correcting extragalactic dust attenuation. Considerable dispersion in this relation discovered for normal galaxies, however, complicates its usability. In order to investigate the cause of the dispersion and to have a better understanding of the nature of the IRX-UV relation, in this paper, we select five nearby spiral galaxies, and perform spatially resolved studies on each of the galaxies, with a combination of ultraviolet and infrared imaging data. We measure all positions within each galaxy and divide the extracted regions into young and evolved stellar populations. By means of this approach, we attempt to discover separate effects of dust attenuation and stellar population age on the IRX-UV relation for individual galaxies. In this work, in addition to dust attenuation, stellar population age is interpreted to be another parameter in the IRX-UV function, and the diversity of star formation histories is suggested to disperse the age effects. At the same time, strong evidence shows the need for more parameters in the interpretation of observational data, such as variations in attenuation/extinction law. Fractional contributions of different components to the integrated luminosities of the galaxies suggest that the integrated measurements of these galaxies, which comprise different populations, would weaken the effect of the age parameter on IRX-UV diagrams. The dependence of the IRX-UV relation on luminosity and radial distance in galaxies presents weak trends, which offers an implication of selective effects. The two-dimensional maps of the UV color and the infrared-to-ultraviolet ratio are displayed and show a disparity in the spatial distributions between the two galaxy parameters, which offers a spatial interpretation of the scatter in

What makes red quasars red?. Observational evidence for dust extinction from line ratio analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Dohyeong; Im, Myungshin

2018-02-01

Red quasars are very red in the optical through near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths, which is possibly due to dust extinction in their host galaxies as expected in a scenario in which red quasars are an intermediate population between merger-driven star-forming galaxies and unobscured type 1 quasars. However, alternative mechanisms also exist to explain their red colors: (i) an intrinsically red continuum; (ii) an unusual high covering factor of the hot dust component, that is, CFHD = LHD/Lbol, where the LHD is the luminosity from the hot dust component and the Lbol is the bolometric luminosity; and (iii) a moderate viewing angle. In order to investigate why red quasars are red, we studied optical and NIR spectra of 20 red quasars at z 0.3 and 0.7, where the usage of the NIR spectra allowed us to look into red quasar properties in ways that are little affected by dust extinction. The Paschen to Balmer line ratios were derived for 13 red quasars and the values were found to be 10 times higher than unobscured type 1 quasars, suggesting a heavy dust extinction with AV > 2.5 mag. Furthermore, the Paschen to Balmer line ratios of red quasars are difficult to explain with plausible physical conditions without adopting the concept of the dust extinction. The CFHD of red quasars are similar to, or marginally higher than, those of unobscured type 1 quasars. The Eddington ratios, computed for 19 out of 20 red quasars, are higher than those of unobscured type 1 quasars (by factors of 3-5), and hence the moderate viewing angle scenario is disfavored. Consequently, these results strongly suggest the dust extinction that is connected to an enhanced nuclear activity as the origin of the red color of red quasars, which is consistent with the merger-driven quasar evolution scenario. Full Table A.1 is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/610/A31

H II region-like galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

French, H.B.

1979-01-01

Line fluxes in the region 3700 to 7100A are presented for 14 galaxies with strong, sharp, H II region-like emission lines. Ten of these galaxies are low luminosity objects (M > -17); the others have M approx. < -20. Ratios of the line fluxes are used to derive electron temperatures and densities, and the abundances of helium, oxygen, nitrogen, neon, and sulfur relative to hydrogen. The low luminosity galaxies are generally found to have oxygen abundances about 30% of normal, while the high luminosity ones generally have about 60% of normal. These galaxies are found to be almost certainly photoionized by hot main sequence stars. The velocity dispersion has been measured for one object; the mass of stars derived for it is several times smaller than the mass of neutral hydrogen which has previously been found in an extended halo around this object. The continuum colors of these galaxies are very blue, and are indistinguishable from those of extragalactic H II regions. No older red population has been convincingly detected. Galactic chemical evolution is investigated through a comparison of the relative abundances in these galaxies with their normal values. It is found that: (i) there is a primary contribution to the nitrogen abundance ((N/O)/sub p = 0.019), but that 80% of the nitrogen in the Galaxy today is of secondary origin; (ii) Ne/O appears to be constant for all objects (Ne/O = 0.23); and (iii) S/O decreases with increasing oxygen abundance, implying that most sulfur is produced in the most massive stars

Spot the difference. Impact of different selection criteria on observed properties of passive galaxies in zCOSMOS-20k sample

Science.gov (United States)

Moresco, M.; Pozzetti, L.; Cimatti, A.; Zamorani, G.; Bolzonella, M.; Lamareille, F.; Mignoli, M.; Zucca, E.; Lilly, S. J.; Carollo, C. M.; Contini, T.; Kneib, J.-P.; Le Fèvre, O.; Mainieri, V.; Renzini, A.; Scodeggio, M.; Bardelli, S.; Bongiorno, A.; Caputi, K.; Cucciati, O.; de la Torre, S.; de Ravel, L.; Franzetti, P.; Garilli, B.; Iovino, A.; Kampczyk, P.; Knobel, C.; Kovač, K.; Le Borgne, J.-F.; Le Brun, V.; Maier, C.; Pelló, R.; Peng, Y.; Perez-Montero, E.; Presotto, V.; Silverman, J. D.; Tanaka, M.; Tasca, L.; Tresse, L.; Vergani, D.; Barnes, L.; Bordoloi, R.; Cappi, A.; Diener, C.; Koekemoer, A. M.; Le Floc'h, E.; López-Sanjuan, C.; McCracken, H. J.; Nair, P.; Oesch, P.; Scarlata, C.; Scoville, N.; Welikala, N.

2013-10-01

chosen passive cut, and equivalent widths of emission lines mostly compatible with no star-formation activity. However, it is also the less economic criterion in terms of information used. Among the other criteria, we found that the best performing are the red SED and the quiescent ones, providing a percentage of contamination only slightly higher than the red & passive ETGs criterion (on average of a factor of ~2) but with absolute values of the properties of contaminants still compatible with a red, passively evolving population. We also find a strong dependence of the contamination on the stellar mass and conclude that, almost irrespective of the adopted selection criteria, a cut at log (M/M⊙) > 10.75 provides a significantly purer sample in terms of star-forming contaminants. By studying the restframe color-mass and color-color diagrams, we provided two revised definitions of passive galaxies based on these criteria that better reproduce the observed bimodality in the properties of zCOSMOS-20k galaxies. The analysis of the number densities of the various samples shows evidences of mass-assembly "downsizing", with galaxies at 10.25 Chile, program 175.A-0839.

Illuminating Low Surface Brightness Galaxies with the Hyper Suprime-Cam Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Greco, Johnny P.; Greene, Jenny E.; Strauss, Michael A.; Macarthur, Lauren A.; Flowers, Xzavier; Goulding, Andy D.; Huang, Song; Kim, Ji Hoon; Komiyama, Yutaka; Leauthaud, Alexie; Leisman, Lukas; Lupton, Robert H.; Sifón, Cristóbal; Wang, Shiang-Yu

2018-04-01

We present a catalog of extended low surface brightness galaxies (LSBGs) identified in the Wide layer of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP). Using the first ∼200 deg2 of the survey, we have uncovered 781 LSBGs, spanning red (g ‑ i ≥ 0.64) and blue (g ‑ i r eff = 2.″5–14″), our sample is likely dominated by low-redshift objects. We define LSBGs to have mean surface brightnesses {\\bar{μ }}eff}(g)> 24.3 mag arcsec‑2, which allows nucleated galaxies into our sample. As a result, the central surface brightness distribution spans a wide range of μ 0(g) = 18–27.4 mag arcsec‑2, with 50% and 95% of galaxies fainter than 24.3 and 22 mag arcsec‑2, respectively. Furthermore, the surface brightness distribution is a strong function of color, with the red distribution being much broader and generally fainter than that of the blue LSBGs, and this trend shows a clear correlation with galaxy morphology. Red LSBGs typically have smooth light profiles that are well characterized by single-component Sérsic functions. In contrast, blue LSBGs tend to have irregular morphologies and show evidence for ongoing star formation. We cross-match our sample with existing optical, H I, and ultraviolet catalogs to gain insight into the physical nature of the LSBGs. We find that our sample is diverse, ranging from dwarf spheroidals and ultradiffuse galaxies in nearby groups to gas-rich irregulars to giant LSB spirals, demonstrating the potential of the HSC-SSP to provide a truly unprecedented view of the LSBG population.

Quiescent Galaxies in the 3D-HST Survey: Spectroscopic Confirmation of a Large Number of Galaxies with Relatively Old Stellar Populations at z ~ 2

Science.gov (United States)

Whitaker, Katherine E.; van Dokkum, Pieter G.; Brammer, Gabriel; Momcheva, Ivelina G.; Skelton, Rosalind; Franx, Marijn; Kriek, Mariska; Labbé, Ivo; Fumagalli, Mattia; Lundgren, Britt F.; Nelson, Erica J.; Patel, Shannon G.; Rix, Hans-Walter

2013-06-01

Quiescent galaxies at z ~ 2 have been identified in large numbers based on rest-frame colors, but only a small number of these galaxies have been spectroscopically confirmed to show that their rest-frame optical spectra show either strong Balmer or metal absorption lines. Here, we median stack the rest-frame optical spectra for 171 photometrically quiescent galaxies at 1.4 < z < 2.2 from the 3D-HST grism survey. In addition to Hβ (λ4861 Å), we unambiguously identify metal absorption lines in the stacked spectrum, including the G band (λ4304 Å), Mg I (λ5175 Å), and Na I (λ5894 Å). This finding demonstrates that galaxies with relatively old stellar populations already existed when the universe was ~3 Gyr old, and that rest-frame color selection techniques can efficiently select them. We find an average age of 1.3^{+0.1}_{-0.3} Gyr when fitting a simple stellar population to the entire stack. We confirm our previous result from medium-band photometry that the stellar age varies with the colors of quiescent galaxies: the reddest 80% of galaxies are dominated by metal lines and have a relatively old mean age of 1.6^{+0.5}_{-0.4} Gyr, whereas the bluest (and brightest) galaxies have strong Balmer lines and a spectroscopic age of 0.9^{+0.2}_{-0.1} Gyr. Although the spectrum is dominated by an evolved stellar population, we also find [O III] and Hβ emission. Interestingly, this emission is more centrally concentrated than the continuum with {L_{{O}\\,\\scriptsize{III}}}=1.7+/- 0.3\\times 10^{40} erg s-1, indicating residual central star formation or nuclear activity.

Population synthesis and x-ray properties of passively evolving galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Renzini, A.

1989-01-01

In this review some evolutionary processes in galaxies will be considered which may be less exciting than other phenomena such as starburst activities, galactic interactions, merging, or cannibalism. The discussion will rather be restricted to passively evolving stellar populations, i.e. to what may happen when all giant molecular clouds have blown away, when every shower of star formation has ceased, and stars just shine, age, and eventually die. Only this passive evolution is in fact subject to laws that - at least in principle - can be rigorously formulated, while star formation processes, because of the prominent role played by chaotic hydrodynamics, rather resemble meteorological events. In Section 2 some fundamental properties of simple stellar populations are introduced. These can be regarded as the basic laws controlling the evolution of stellar populations, once that they have condensed from the diffused medium. In Section 3 the primary requirements that acceptable evolutionary population synthesis should fulfil are then briefly recalled, and, finally, in Section 4 some of the basic laws are put at play in an attempt to discuss the evolution over cosmological times of the X-ray properties of elliptical galaxies. (author)

GALAXIES IN X-RAY GROUPS. III. SATELLITE COLOR AND MORPHOLOGY TRANSFORMATIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

George, Matthew R.; Ma, Chung-Pei [Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Bundy, Kevin; Leauthaud, Alexie; Vulcani, Benedetta [Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU, WPI), Todai Institutes for Advanced Study, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa 277-8583 (Japan); Tinker, Jeremy [Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003 (United States); Wechsler, Risa H. [Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States); Finoguenov, Alexis, E-mail: mgeorge@astro.berkeley.edu [Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Gustaf Haellstroemin katu 2a, FI-00014 Helsinki (Finland)

2013-06-20

While the star formation rates and morphologies of galaxies have long been known to correlate with their local environment, the process by which these correlations are generated is not well understood. Galaxy groups are thought to play an important role in shaping the physical properties of galaxies before entering massive clusters at low redshift, and transformations of satellite galaxies likely dominate the buildup of local environmental correlations. To illuminate the physical processes that shape galaxy evolution in dense environments, we study a sample of 116 X-ray selected galaxy groups at z = 0.2-1 with halo masses of 10{sup 13}-10{sup 14} M{sub Sun} and centroids determined with weak lensing. We analyze morphologies based on Hubble Space Telescope imaging and colors determined from 31 photometric bands for a stellar mass-limited population of 923 satellite galaxies and a comparison sample of 16,644 field galaxies. Controlling for variations in stellar mass across environments, we find significant trends in the colors and morphologies of satellite galaxies with group-centric distance and across cosmic time. Specifically at low stellar mass (log (M{sub *}/M{sub Sun }) = 9.8-10.3), the fraction of disk-dominated star-forming galaxies declines from >50% among field galaxies to <20% among satellites near the centers of groups. This decline is accompanied by a rise in quenched galaxies with intermediate bulge+disk morphologies, and only a weak increase in red bulge-dominated systems. These results show that both color and morphology are influenced by a galaxy's location within a group halo. We suggest that strangulation and disk fading alone are insufficient to explain the observed morphological dependence on environment, and that galaxy mergers or close tidal encounters must play a role in building up the population of quenched galaxies with bulges seen in dense environments at low redshift.

GALAXIES IN X-RAY GROUPS. III. SATELLITE COLOR AND MORPHOLOGY TRANSFORMATIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

George, Matthew R.; Ma, Chung-Pei; Bundy, Kevin; Leauthaud, Alexie; Vulcani, Benedetta; Tinker, Jeremy; Wechsler, Risa H.; Finoguenov, Alexis

2013-01-01

While the star formation rates and morphologies of galaxies have long been known to correlate with their local environment, the process by which these correlations are generated is not well understood. Galaxy groups are thought to play an important role in shaping the physical properties of galaxies before entering massive clusters at low redshift, and transformations of satellite galaxies likely dominate the buildup of local environmental correlations. To illuminate the physical processes that shape galaxy evolution in dense environments, we study a sample of 116 X-ray selected galaxy groups at z = 0.2-1 with halo masses of 10 13 -10 14 M ☉ and centroids determined with weak lensing. We analyze morphologies based on Hubble Space Telescope imaging and colors determined from 31 photometric bands for a stellar mass-limited population of 923 satellite galaxies and a comparison sample of 16,644 field galaxies. Controlling for variations in stellar mass across environments, we find significant trends in the colors and morphologies of satellite galaxies with group-centric distance and across cosmic time. Specifically at low stellar mass (log (M * /M ☉ ) = 9.8-10.3), the fraction of disk-dominated star-forming galaxies declines from >50% among field galaxies to <20% among satellites near the centers of groups. This decline is accompanied by a rise in quenched galaxies with intermediate bulge+disk morphologies, and only a weak increase in red bulge-dominated systems. These results show that both color and morphology are influenced by a galaxy's location within a group halo. We suggest that strangulation and disk fading alone are insufficient to explain the observed morphological dependence on environment, and that galaxy mergers or close tidal encounters must play a role in building up the population of quenched galaxies with bulges seen in dense environments at low redshift.

The Dependence of galaxy colors on luminosity and environment at z~0.4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yee, H.K.C.; /Toronto U., Astron. Dept.; Hsieh, B.C.; /Taiwan, Natl. Central U. /Taipei, Inst. Astron. Astrophys.; Lin, Huan; /Fermilab; Gladders, M.D.; /Carnegie Inst.

2005-08-01

The authors analyze the B-R{sub c} colors of galaxies as functions of luminosity and local galaxy density using a large photometric redshift catalog based on the Red-Sequence Cluster Survey. They select two samples of galaxies with a magnitude limit of M{sub R{sub e}} < -18.5 and redshift ranges of 0.2 {le} z < 0.4 and 0.4 {le} x < 0.6 containing 10{sup 5} galaxies each. they model the color distributions of subsamples of galaxies and derive the red galaxy fraction and peak colors of red and blue galaxies as functions of galaxy luminosity and environment. The evolution of these relationships over the redshift range of x {approx} 0.5 to z {approx} 0.05 is analyzed in combination with published results from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. They find that there is a strong evolution in the restframe peak color of bright blue galaxies in that they become redder with decreasing redshift, while the colors of faint blue galaxies remain approximately constant. This effect supports the ''downsizing'' scenario of star formation in galaxies. While the general dependence of the galaxy color distributions on the environment is small, they find that the change of red galaxy fraction with epoch is a function of the local galaxy density, suggesting that the downsizing effect may operate with different timescales in regions of different galaxy densities.

Stellar populations of bulges in galaxies with a low surface-brightness disc

Science.gov (United States)

Morelli, L.; Corsini, E. M.; Pizzella, A.; Dalla Bontà, E.; Coccato, L.; Méndez-Abreu, J.

2015-03-01

The radial profiles of the Hβ, Mg, and Fe line-strength indices are presented for a sample of eight spiral galaxies with a low surface-brightness stellar disc and a bulge. The correlations between the central values of the line-strength indices and velocity dispersion are consistent to those known for early-type galaxies and bulges of high surface-brightness galaxies. The age, metallicity, and α/Fe enhancement of the stellar populations in the bulge-dominated region are obtained using stellar population models with variable element abundance ratios. Almost all the sample bulges are characterized by a young stellar population, on-going star formation, and a solar α/Fe enhancement. Their metallicity spans from high to sub-solar values. No significant gradient in age and α/Fe enhancement is measured, whereas only in a few cases a negative metallicity gradient is found. These properties suggest that a pure dissipative collapse is not able to explain formation of all the sample bulges and that other phenomena, like mergers or acquisition events, need to be invoked. Such a picture is also supported by the lack of a correlation between the central value and gradient of the metallicity in bulges with very low metallicity. The stellar populations of the bulges hosted by low surface-brightness discs share many properties with those of high surface-brightness galaxies. Therefore, they are likely to have common formation scenarios and evolution histories. A strong interplay between bulges and discs is ruled out by the fact that in spite of being hosted by discs with extremely different properties, the bulges of low and high surface-brightness discs are remarkably similar.

A TALE OF DWARFS AND GIANTS: USING A z = 1.62 CLUSTER TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE RED SEQUENCE GREW OVER THE LAST 9.5 BILLION YEARS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rudnick, Gregory H.; Tran, Kim-Vy; Papovich, Casey; Momcheva, Ivelina; Willmer, Christopher

2012-01-01

We study the red sequence in a cluster of galaxies at z = 1.62 and follow its evolution over the intervening 9.5 Gyr to the present day. Using deep YJK s imaging with the HAWK-I instrument on the Very Large Telescope, we identify a tight red sequence and construct its rest-frame i-band luminosity function (LF). There is a marked deficit of faint red galaxies in the cluster that causes a turnover in the LF. We compare the red-sequence LF to that for clusters at z 0.6. In this model the cluster accretes blue galaxies from the field whose star formation is quenched and who are subsequently allowed to merge. We find that three to four mergers among cluster galaxies during the 4 Gyr between z = 1.62 and z = 0.6 match the observed LF evolution between the two redshifts. The inferred merger rate is consistent with other studies of this cluster. Our result supports the picture that galaxy merging during the major growth phase of massive clusters is an important process in shaping the red-sequence population at all luminosities.

Seeing Baby Dwarf Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] [figure removed for brevity, see original site] [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Visible/DSS Click on image for larger version Ultraviolet/GALEX Click on image for larger version Poster Version Click on image for larger version The unique ultraviolet vision of NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer reveals, for the first time, dwarf galaxies forming out of nothing more than pristine gas likely leftover from the early universe. Dwarf galaxies are relatively small collections of stars that often orbit around larger galaxies like our Milky Way. The forming dwarf galaxies shine in the far ultraviolet spectrum, rendered as blue in the call-out on the right hand side of this image. Near ultraviolet light, also obtained by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, is displayed in green, and visible light from the blue part of the spectrum here is represented by red. The clumps (in circles) are distinctively blue, indicating they are primarily detected in far ultraviolet light. The faint blue overlay traces the outline of the Leo Ring, a huge cloud of hydrogen and helium that orbits around two massive galaxies in the constellation Leo (left panel). The cloud is thought likely to be a primordial object, an ancient remnant of material that has remained relatively unchanged since the very earliest days of the universe. Identified about 25 years ago by radio waves, the ring cannot be seen in visible light. Only a portion of the Leo Ring has been imaged in the ultraviolet, but this section contains the telltale ultraviolet signature of recent massive star formation within this ring of pristine gas. Astronomers have previously only seen dwarf galaxies form out of gas that has already been cycled through a galaxy and enriched with metals elements heavier than helium produced as stars evolve. The visible data come from the Digitized Sky Survey of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md. The Leo Ring visible image (left

POPULATION III STARS AND REMNANTS IN HIGH-REDSHIFT GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Hao; Norman, Michael L.; Wise, John H.

2013-01-01

Recent simulations of Population III star formation have suggested that some fraction form in binary systems, in addition to having a characteristic mass of tens of solar masses. The deaths of metal-free stars result in the initial chemical enrichment of the universe and the production of the first stellar-mass black holes. Here we present a cosmological adaptive mesh refinement simulation of an overdense region that forms a few 10 9 M ☉ dark matter halos and over 13,000 Population III stars by redshift 15. We find that most halos do not form Population III stars until they reach M vir ∼ 10 7 M ☉ because this biased region is quickly enriched from both Population III and galaxies, which also produce high levels of ultraviolet radiation that suppress H 2 formation. Nevertheless, Population III stars continue to form, albeit in more massive halos, at a rate of ∼10 –4 M ☉ yr –1 Mpc –3 at redshift 15. The most massive starless halo has a mass of 7 × 10 7 M ☉ , which could host massive black hole formation through the direct gaseous collapse scenario. We show that the multiplicity of the Population III remnants grows with halo mass above 10 8 M ☉ , culminating in 50 remnants located in 10 9 M ☉ halos on average. This has implications that high-mass X-ray binaries and intermediate-mass black holes that originate from metal-free stars may be abundant in high-redshift galaxies

Test of Gravity on Large Scales with Weak Gravitational Lensing and Clustering Measurements of SDSS Luminous Red Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes, Reinabelle; Mandelbaum, R.; Seljak, U.; Gunn, J.; Lombriser, L.

2009-01-01

We perform a test of gravity on large scales (5-50 Mpc/h) using 70,000 luminous red galaxies (LRGs) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR7 with redshifts 0.16galaxy peculiar velocities, and galaxy clustering-- that can discriminate between different theories of gravity and is largely independent of galaxy bias and sigma_8. In particular, E_G is sensitive to the relation between the spatial and temporal scalar perturbations in the space-time metric. While these two potentials are equivalent in concordance cosmology (GR+LCDM) in the absence of anisotropic stress, they are not equivalent in alternative theories of gravity in general, so that different models make different predictions for E_G. We find E_G=0.37±0.05 averaged over scales 5galaxy surveys such as LSST, for which a very high signal-to-noise measurement will be possible.

Beyond the Borders of a Galaxy

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Side-by-Side Comparison Click on image for larger view The outlying regions around the Southern Pinwheel galaxy, or M83, are highlighted in this composite image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer and the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array in New Mexico. The blue and pink pinwheel in the center is the galaxy's main stellar disk, while the flapping, ribbon-like structures are its extended arms. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer is an ultraviolet survey telescope. Its observations, shown here in blue and green, highlight the galaxy's farthest-flung clusters of young stars up to 140,000 light-years from its center. The Very Large Array observations show the radio emission in red. They highlight gaseous hydrogen atoms, or raw ingredients for stars, which make up the lengthy, extended arms. Astronomers are excited that the clusters of baby stars match up with the extended arms, because this helps them better understand how stars can be created out in the 'backwoods' of a galaxy. In this image, far-ultraviolet light is blue, near-ultraviolet light is green and radio emission at a wavelength of 21 centimeters is red. What Lies Beyond the Edge of a Galaxy The side-by-side comparison shows the Southern Pinwheel galaxy, or M83, as seen in ultraviolet light (right) and at both ultraviolet and radio wavelengths (left). While the radio data highlight the galaxy's long, octopus-like arms stretching far beyond its main spiral disk (red), the ultraviolet data reveal clusters of baby stars (blue) within the extended arms. The ultraviolet image was taken by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer between March 15 and May 20, 2007, at scheduled intervals. Back in 2005, the telescope first photographed M83 over a shorter period of time. That picture was the first to reveal far-flung baby stars forming up to 63,000 light-years from the edge of the main spiral disk. This came as a surprise to astronomers because a galaxy's outer

Galaxy Formation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sparre, Martin

Galaxy formation is an enormously complex discipline due to the many physical processes that play a role in shaping galaxies. The objective of this thesis is to study galaxy formation with two different approaches: First, numerical simulations are used to study the structure of dark matter and how...... galaxies form stars throughout the history of the Universe, and secondly it is shown that observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) can be used to probe galaxies with active star formation in the early Universe. A conclusion from the hydrodynamical simulations is that the galaxies from the stateof...... is important, since it helps constraining chemical evolution models at high redshift. A new project studying how the population of galaxies hosting GRBs relate to other galaxy population is outlined in the conclusion of this thesis. The core of this project will be to quantify how the stellar mass function...

Precision Distances with the Tip of the Red Giant Branch Method

Science.gov (United States)

Beaton, Rachael Lynn; Carnegie-Chicago Hubble Program Team

2018-01-01

The Carnegie-Chicago Hubble Program aims to construct a distance ladder that utilizes old stellar populations in the outskirts of galaxies to produce a high precision measurement of the Hubble Constant that is independent of Cepheids. The CCHP uses the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) method, which is a statistical measurement technique that utilizes the termination of the red giant branch. Two innovations combine to make the TRGB a competitive route to the Hubble Constant (i) the large-scale measurement of trigonometric parallax by the Gaia mission and (ii) the development of both precise and accurate means of determining the TRGB in both nearby (~1 Mpc) and distant (~20 Mpc) galaxies. Here I will summarize our progress in developing these standardized techniques, focusing on both our edge-detection algorithm and our field selection strategy. Using these methods, the CCHP has determined equally precise (~2%) distances to galaxies in the Local Group (< 1 Mpc) and across the Local Volume (< 20 Mpc). The TRGB is, thus, an incredibly powerful and straightforward means to determine distances to galaxies of any Hubble Type and, thus, has enormous potential for putting any number of astrophyiscal phenomena on absolute units.

On the origin of the Hubble sequence: I. Insights on galaxy color migration from cosmological simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cen, Renyue

2014-01-01

An analysis of more than 3000 galaxies resolved at better than 114 h –1 pc at z = 0.62 in a 'LAOZI' cosmological adaptive mesh refinement hydrodynamic simulation is performed and insights are gained on star formation quenching and color migration. The vast majority of red galaxies are found to be within three virial radii of a larger galaxy at the onset of quenching, when the specific star formation rate experiences the sharpest decline to fall below ∼10 –2 -10 –1 Gyr –1 (depending on the redshift). Thus, we shall call this mechanism 'environment quenching', which encompasses satellite quenching. Two physical processes are largely responsible: Ram pressure stripping first disconnects the galaxy from the cold gas supply on large scales, followed by a longer period of cold gas starvation taking place in a high velocity-dispersion environment, in which during the early part of the process, the existing dense cold gas in the central region (≤10 kpc) is consumed by in situ star formation. On average, quenching is found to be more efficient (i.e., a larger fraction of galaxies being quenched) but not faster (i.e., the duration being weakly dependent on the environment) in a denser environment. Throughout this quenching period and the ensuing one in the red sequence, galaxies follow nearly vertical tracks in the color-stellar mass diagram. In contrast, individual galaxies of all masses grow most of their stellar masses in the blue cloud, prior to the onset of quenching, and progressively more massive blue galaxies with already relatively older mean stellar ages continue to enter the red sequence. Consequently, correlations among observables of red galaxies—such as the age-mass relation— are largely inherited from their blue progenitors at the onset of quenching. While the color makeup of the entire galaxy population strongly depends on the environment, which is a direct result of environment quenching, physical properties of blue

Genetic assessment of captive red panda (Ailurus fulgens) population.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Arun; Rai, Upashna; Roka, Bhupen; Jha, Alankar K; Reddy, P Anuradha

2016-01-01

Red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is threatened across its range by detrimental human activities and rapid habitat changes necessitating captive breeding programs in various zoos globally to save this flagship species from extinction. One of the ultimate aims of ex situ conservation is reintroduction of endangered animals into their natural habitats while maintaining 90 % of the founder genetic diversity. Advances in molecular genetics and microsatellite genotyping techniques make it possible to accurately estimate genetic diversity of captive animals of unknown ancestry. Here we assess genetic diversity of the red panda population in Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling, which plays a pivotal role in ex situ conservation of red panda in India. We generated microsatellite genotypes of fifteen red pandas with a set of fourteen loci. This population is genetically diverse with 68 % observed heterozygosity (H O ) and mean inbreeding (F IS ) coefficient of 0.05. However population viability analysis reveals that this population has a very low survival probability (<2 %) and will rapidly loose its genetic diversity to 37 % mainly due to small population size and skewed male-biased sex ratio. Regular supplementation with a pair of adult individuals every five years will increase survival probability and genetic diversity to 99 and 61 % respectively and will also support future harvesting of individuals for reintroduction into the wild and exchange with other zoos.

Galaxy evolution in the metric of the cosmic web

Science.gov (United States)

Kraljic, K.; Arnouts, S.; Pichon, C.; Laigle, C.; de la Torre, S.; Vibert, D.; Cadiou, C.; Dubois, Y.; Treyer, M.; Schimd, C.; Codis, S.; de Lapparent, V.; Devriendt, J.; Hwang, H. S.; Le Borgne, D.; Malavasi, N.; Milliard, B.; Musso, M.; Pogosyan, D.; Alpaslan, M.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Wright, A. H.

2018-02-01

The role of the cosmic web in shaping galaxy properties is investigated in the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) spectroscopic survey in the redshift range 0.03 ≤ z ≤ 0.25. The stellar mass, u - r dust corrected colour and specific star formation rate (sSFR) of galaxies are analysed as a function of their distances to the 3D cosmic web features, such as nodes, filaments and walls, as reconstructed by DisPerSE. Significant mass and type/colour gradients are found for the whole population, with more massive and/or passive galaxies being located closer to the filament and wall than their less massive and/or star-forming counterparts. Mass segregation persists among the star-forming population alone. The red fraction of galaxies increases when closing in on nodes, and on filaments regardless of the distance to nodes. Similarly, the star-forming population reddens (or lowers its sSFR) at fixed mass when closing in on filament, implying that some quenching takes place. These trends are also found in the state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulation HORIZON-AGN. These results suggest that on top of stellar mass and large-scale density, the traceless component of the tides from the anisotropic large-scale environment also shapes galactic properties. An extension of excursion theory accounting for filamentary tides provides a qualitative explanation in terms of anisotropic assembly bias: at a given mass, the accretion rate varies with the orientation and distance to filaments. It also explains the absence of type/colour gradients in the data on smaller, non-linear scales.

THE SIZE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RED AND BLUE GLOBULAR CLUSTERS IS NOT DUE TO PROJECTION EFFECTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webb, Jeremy J.; Harris, William E.; Sills, Alison

2012-01-01

Metal-rich (red) globular clusters in massive galaxies are, on average, smaller than metal-poor (blue) globular clusters. One of the possible explanations for this phenomenon is that the two populations of clusters have different spatial distributions. We test this idea by comparing clusters observed in unusually deep, high signal-to-noise images of M87 with a simulated globular cluster population in which the red and blue clusters have different spatial distributions, matching the observations. We compare the overall distribution of cluster effective radii as well as the relationship between effective radius and galactocentric distance for both the observed and simulated red and blue sub-populations. We find that the different spatial distributions does not produce a significant size difference between the red and blue sub-populations as a whole or at a given galactocentric distance. These results suggest that the size difference between red and blue globular clusters is likely due to differences during formation or later evolution.

The Size Difference between Red and Blue Globular Clusters is not due to Projection Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, Jeremy J.; Harris, William E.; Sills, Alison

2012-11-01

Metal-rich (red) globular clusters in massive galaxies are, on average, smaller than metal-poor (blue) globular clusters. One of the possible explanations for this phenomenon is that the two populations of clusters have different spatial distributions. We test this idea by comparing clusters observed in unusually deep, high signal-to-noise images of M87 with a simulated globular cluster population in which the red and blue clusters have different spatial distributions, matching the observations. We compare the overall distribution of cluster effective radii as well as the relationship between effective radius and galactocentric distance for both the observed and simulated red and blue sub-populations. We find that the different spatial distributions does not produce a significant size difference between the red and blue sub-populations as a whole or at a given galactocentric distance. These results suggest that the size difference between red and blue globular clusters is likely due to differences during formation or later evolution.

Alignment between galaxies and large-scale structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faltenbacher, A.; Li Cheng; White, Simon D. M.; Jing, Yi-Peng; Mao Shude; Wang Jie

2009-01-01

Based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR6 (SDSS) and the Millennium Simulation (MS), we investigate the alignment between galaxies and large-scale structure. For this purpose, we develop two new statistical tools, namely the alignment correlation function and the cos(2θ)-statistic. The former is a two-dimensional extension of the traditional two-point correlation function and the latter is related to the ellipticity correlation function used for cosmic shear measurements. Both are based on the cross correlation between a sample of galaxies with orientations and a reference sample which represents the large-scale structure. We apply the new statistics to the SDSS galaxy catalog. The alignment correlation function reveals an overabundance of reference galaxies along the major axes of red, luminous (L ∼ * ) galaxies out to projected separations of 60 h- 1 Mpc. The signal increases with central galaxy luminosity. No alignment signal is detected for blue galaxies. The cos(2θ)-statistic yields very similar results. Starting from a MS semi-analytic galaxy catalog, we assign an orientation to each red, luminous and central galaxy, based on that of the central region of the host halo (with size similar to that of the stellar galaxy). As an alternative, we use the orientation of the host halo itself. We find a mean projected misalignment between a halo and its central region of ∼ 25 deg. The misalignment decreases slightly with increasing luminosity of the central galaxy. Using the orientations and luminosities of the semi-analytic galaxies, we repeat our alignment analysis on mock surveys of the MS. Agreement with the SDSS results is good if the central orientations are used. Predictions using the halo orientations as proxies for central galaxy orientations overestimate the observed alignment by more than a factor of 2. Finally, the large volume of the MS allows us to generate a two-dimensional map of the alignment correlation function, which shows the reference

Looking Wider and Further: The Evolution of Galaxies Inside Galaxy Clusters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Yuanyuan [Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)

2016-01-01

Galaxy clusters are rare objects in the universe, but on-going wide field optical surveys are identifying many thousands of them to redshift 1.0 and beyond. Using early data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and publicly released data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), this dissertation explores the evolution of cluster galaxies in the redshift range from 0 to 1.0. As it is common for deep wide field sky surveys like DES to struggle with galaxy detection efficiency at cluster core, the first component of this dissertation describes an efficient package that helps resolving the issue. The second part focuses on the formation of cluster galaxies. The study quantifies the growth of cluster bright central galaxies (BCGs), and argues for the importance of merging and intra-cluster light production during BCG evolution. An analysis of cluster red sequence galaxy luminosity function is also performed, demonstrating that the abundance of these galaxies is mildly dependent on cluster mass and redshift. The last component of the dissertation characterizes the properties of galaxy filaments to help understanding cluster environments

Stellar metallicity variations across spiral arms in disk galaxies with multiple populations

Science.gov (United States)

Khoperskov, S.; Di Matteo, P.; Haywood, M.; Combes, F.

2018-03-01

This Letter studies the formation of azimuthal metallicity variations in the disks of spiral galaxies in the absence of initial radial metallicity gradients. Using high-resolution N-body simulations, we model composite stellar discs, made of kinematically cold and hot stellar populations, and study their response to spiral arm perturbations. We find that, as expected, disk populations with different kinematics respond differently to a spiral perturbation, with the tendency for dynamically cooler populations to show a larger fractional contribution to spiral arms than dynamically hotter populations. By assuming a relation between kinematics and metallicity, namely the hotter the population, the more metal-poor it is, this differential response to the spiral arm perturbations naturally leads to azimuthal variations in the mean metallicity of stars in the simulated disk. Thus, azimuthal variations in the mean metallicity of stars across a spiral galaxy are not necessarily a consequence of the reshaping, by radial migration, of an initial radial metallicity gradient. They indeed arise naturally also in stellar disks which have initially only a negative vertical metallicity gradient.

THE EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF LYMAN BREAK GALAXIES BETWEEN REDSHIFT 4 AND 6: OBSERVING SUCCESSIVE GENERATIONS OF MASSIVE GALAXIES IN FORMATION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stark, Daniel P.; Ellis, Richard S.; Targett, Tom; Benson, Andrew; Bunker, Andrew; Bundy, Kevin; Lacy, Mark

2009-01-01

We present new measurements of the evolution in the Lyman break galaxy (LBG) population between z ≅ 4 and z ≅ 6. By utilizing the extensive multiwavelength data sets available in the GOODS fields, we identify 2443 B, 506 V, and 137 i'-band dropout galaxies likely to be at z ∼ 4, 5, and 6. For the subset of dropouts for which reliable Spitzer IRAC photometry is feasible (roughly 35% of the sample), we estimate luminosity-weighted ages and stellar masses. With the goal of understanding the duration of typical star formation episodes in galaxies at z ∼> 4, we examine the distribution of stellar masses and ages as a function of cosmic time. We find that at a fixed rest-UV luminosity, the average stellar masses and ages of galaxies do not increase significantly between z ≅ 6 and 4. In order to maintain this near equilibrium in the average properties of high-redshift LBGs, we argue that there must be a steady flux of young, newly luminous objects at each successive redshift. When considered along with the short duty cycles inferred from clustering measurements, these results may suggest that galaxies are undergoing star formation episodes lasting only several hundred million years. In contrast to the unchanging relationship between the average stellar mass and rest-UV luminosity, we find that the number density of massive galaxies increases considerably with time over 4 ∼ 11 M sun ) z ≅ 2-3 distant red galaxies (DRGs) were in part assembled in an LBG phase at earlier times. Integrating the growth in the stellar mass function of actively forming LBGs over 4 ∼ 3 LBGs could have contributed significantly to the quiescent DRG population, indicating that the intense star-forming systems probed by submillimeter observations are not the only route toward the assembly of DRGs at z ≅ 2.

STELLAR POPULATIONS OF Lyα EMITTERS AT z ∼ 6-7: CONSTRAINTS ON THE ESCAPE FRACTION OF IONIZING PHOTONS FROM GALAXY BUILDING BLOCKS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ono, Yoshiaki; Shimasaku, Kazuhiro; Okamura, Sadanori; Masami Ouchi; Dunlop, James; Farrah, Duncan; McLure, Ross

2010-01-01

We investigate the stellar populations of Lyα emitters (LAEs) at z = 5.7 and 6.6 in a 0.65 deg 2 sky of the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS) Field, using deep images taken with the Subaru/Suprime-Cam, United Kingdom Infrared Telescope/Wide Field Infrared Camera, and Spitzer/Infrared Array Camera (IRAC). We produce stacked multiband images at each redshift from 165 (z = 5.7) and 91 (z = 6.6) IRAC-undetected objects to derive typical spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of z ∼ 6-7 LAEs for the first time. The stacked LAEs have as blue UV continua as the Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) z-dropout galaxies of similar M UV , with a spectral slope β ∼ -3, but at the same time they have red UV-to-optical colors with detection in the 3.6 μm band. Using SED fitting we find that the stacked LAEs have low stellar masses of ∼(3-10) x 10 7 M sun , very young ages of ∼1-3 Myr, negligible dust extinction, and strong nebular emission from the ionized interstellar medium, although the z = 6.6 object is fitted similarly well with high-mass models without nebular emission; inclusion of nebular emission reproduces the red UV-to-optical colors while keeping the UV colors sufficiently blue. We infer that typical LAEs at z ∼ 6-7 are building blocks of galaxies seen at lower redshifts. We find a tentative decrease in the Lyα escape fraction from z = 5.7 to 6.6, which may imply an increase in the intergalactic medium neutral fraction. From the minimum contribution of nebular emission required to fit the observed SEDs, we place an upper limit on the escape fraction of ionizing photons of f ion esc ∼ 0.6 at z = 5.7 and ∼0.9 at z = 6.6. We also compare the stellar populations of our LAEs with those of stacked HST/WFC3 z-dropout galaxies.

The population of early-type galaxies: how it evolves with time and how it differs from passive and late-type galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Tamburri, S.; Saracco, P.; Longhetti, M.; Gargiulo, A.; Lonoce, I.; Ciocca, F.

2014-10-01

Aims: There are two aims to our analysis. On the one hand we are interested in addressing whether a sample of morphologically selected early-type galaxies (ETGs) differs from a sample of passive galaxies in terms of galaxy statistics. On the other hand we study how the relative abundance of galaxies, the number density, and, the stellar mass density for different morphological types change over the redshift range 0.6 ≤ z ≤ 2.5. Methods: From the 1302 galaxies brighter than Ks(AB) = 22 selected from the GOODS-MUSIC catalogue, we classified the ETGs, i.e. elliptical (E) and spheroidal galaxies (E/S0), on the basis of their morphology and the passive galaxies on the basis of their specific star formation rate (sSFR ≤ 10-11 yr-1). Since the definition of a passive galaxy depends on the model parameters assumed to fit the spectral energy distribution of the galaxy, in addition to the assumed sSFR threshold, we probed the dependence of this definition and selection on the stellar initial mass function (IMF). Results: We find that spheroidal galaxies cannot be distinguished from the other morphological classes on the basis of their low star formation rate, irrespective of the IMF adopted in the models. In particular, we find that a large fraction of passive galaxies (>30%) are disc-shaped objects and that the passive selection misses a significant fraction (~26%) of morphologically classified ETGs. Using the sample of 1302 galaxies morphologically classified into spheroidal galaxies (ETGs) and non-spheroidal galaxies (LTGs), we find that the fraction of these two morphological classes is constant over the redshift range 0.6 ≤ z ≤ 2.5, being 20-30% the fraction of ETGs and 70-80% the fraction of LTGs. However, at z mass density of the whole population of massive galaxies increase by almost a factor of ~10 between 0.6 ≤ z ≤ 2.5, with a faster increase of these densities for the ETGs than for the LTGs. Finally, we find that the number density of the highest

SHARDS: An Optical Spectro-photometric Survey of Distant Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez-González, Pablo G.; Cava, Antonio; Barro, Guillermo; Villar, Víctor; Cardiel, Nicolás; Ferreras, Ignacio; Rodríguez-Espinosa, José Miguel; Alonso-Herrero, Almudena; Balcells, Marc; Cenarro, Javier; Cepa, Jordi; Charlot, Stéphane; Cimatti, Andrea; Conselice, Christopher J.; Daddi, Emmanuele; Donley, Jennifer; Elbaz, David; Espino, Néstor; Gallego, Jesús; Gobat, R.; González-Martín, Omaira; Guzmán, Rafael; Hernán-Caballero, Antonio; Muñoz-Tuñón, Casiana; Renzini, Alvio; Rodríguez-Zaurín, Javier; Tresse, Laurence; Trujillo, Ignacio; Zamorano, Jaime

2013-01-01

We present the Survey for High-z Absorption Red and Dead Sources (SHARDS), an ESO/GTC Large Program carried out using the OSIRIS instrument on the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). SHARDS is an ultra-deep optical spectro-photometric survey of the GOODS-N field covering 130 arcmin2 at wavelengths between 500 and 950 nm with 24 contiguous medium-band filters (providing a spectral resolution R ~ 50). The data reach an AB magnitude of 26.5 (at least at a 3σ level) with sub-arcsec seeing in all bands. SHARDS' main goal is to obtain accurate physical properties of intermediate- and high-z galaxies using well-sampled optical spectral energy distributions (SEDs) with sufficient spectral resolution to measure absorption and emission features, whose analysis will provide reliable stellar population and active galactic nucleus (AGN) parameters. Among the different populations of high-z galaxies, SHARDS' principal targets are massive quiescent galaxies at z > 1, whose existence is one of the major challenges facing current hierarchical models of galaxy formation. In this paper, we outline the observational strategy and include a detailed discussion of the special reduction and calibration procedures which should be applied to the GTC/OSIRIS data. An assessment of the SHARDS data quality is also performed. We present science demonstration results on the detection and study of emission-line galaxies (star-forming objects and AGNs) at z = 0-5. We also analyze the SEDs for a sample of 27 quiescent massive galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the range 1.0 UV-to-MIR SEDs of the massive quiescent galaxies at z = 1.0-1.4 are well described by an exponentially decaying star formation history with scale τ = 100-200 Myr, age around 1.5-2.0 Gyr, solar or slightly sub-solar metallicity, and moderate extinction, A(V) ~ 0.5 mag. We also find that galaxies with masses above M* are typically older than lighter galaxies, as expected in a downsizing scenario of galaxy formation. This

Starbursts and IRAS galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belfort, P.

1987-01-01

Several observational hints suggest that most of the IRAS galaxies are undergoing bursts of star formation. A simple photometric model of starburst galaxy was developed in order to check whether starburst events are really able to account for the far-infrared and optical properties of all the IRAS galaxies with HII region-like spectra. FIR activities up to a few hundred are actually easily reached with rather small bursts in red host-galaxies, and L IR /L B , EW(Hα) and U-B) versus (B-V) diagrams can be used to estimate burst strength and extinction. But more observations are required to conclude about the most extreme cases. Four typical infrared-selected IRAS galaxies are presented and their burst strength and extinction estimated

Into the depth of population genetics: pattern of structuring in mesophotic red coral populations

Science.gov (United States)

Costantini, Federica; Abbiati, Marco

2016-03-01

Deep-sea reef-building corals are among the most conspicuous invertebrates inhabiting the hard-bottom habitats worldwide and are particularly susceptible to human threats. The precious red coral ( Corallium rubrum, L. 1758) has a wide bathymetric distribution, from shallow up to 800 m depth, and represents a key species in the Mediterranean mesophotic reefs. Several studies have investigated genetic variability in shallow-water red coral populations, while geographic patterns in mesophotic habitats are largely unknown. This study investigated genetic variability of C. rubrum populations dwelling between 55 and 120 m depth, from the Ligurian to the Ionian Sea along about 1500 km of coastline. A total of 18 deep rocky banks were sampled. Colonies were analyzed by means of a set of microsatellite loci and the putative control region of the mitochondrial DNA. Collected data were compared with previous studies. Both types of molecular markers showed high genetic similarity between populations within the northern (Ligurian Sea and Tuscan Archipelago) and the southern (Tyrrhenian and Ionian seas) study areas. Variability in habitat features between the sampling sites did not affect the genetic variability of the populations. Conversely, the patchy distribution of suitable habitats affected populations' connectivity within and among deep coral banks. Based on these results and due to the emphasis on red coral protection in the Mediterranean Sea by international institutions, red coral could be promoted as a `focal species' to develop management plans for the conservation of deep coralligenous reefs, a reservoir of marine biodiversity.

MASS AND ENVIRONMENT AS DRIVERS OF GALAXY EVOLUTION. II. THE QUENCHING OF SATELLITE GALAXIES AS THE ORIGIN OF ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peng Yingjie; Lilly, Simon J.; Carollo, Marcella [Institute of Astronomy, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich (Switzerland); Renzini, Alvio [INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Vicolo dell' Osservatorio 5, I-35122 Padova (Italy)

2012-09-20

We extend the phenomenological study of the evolving galaxy population of Peng et al. (2010) to the central/satellite dichotomy in Yang et al. Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) groups. We find that satellite galaxies are responsible for all the environmental effects in our earlier work. The fraction of centrals that are red does not depend on their environment but only on their stellar masses, whereas that of the satellites depends on both. We define a relative satellite quenching efficiency {epsilon}{sub sat}, which is the fraction of blue centrals that are quenched upon becoming the satellite of another galaxy. This is shown to be independent of stellar mass, but to depend strongly on local overdensity, {delta}, ranging between 0.2 and at least 0.8. The red fraction of satellites correlate much better with the local overdensity {delta}, a measure of location within the group, than with the richness of the group, i.e., dark matter halo mass. This, and the fact that satellite quenching depends on local density and not on either the stellar mass of the galaxy or the dark matter halo mass, gives clues as to the nature of the satellite-quenching process. We furthermore show that the action of mass quenching on satellite galaxies is also independent of the dark matter mass of the parent halo. We then apply the Peng et al. approach to predict the mass functions of central and satellite galaxies, split into passive and active galaxies, and show that these match very well the observed mass functions from SDSS, further strengthening the validity of this phenomenological approach. We highlight the fact that the observed M* is exactly the same for the star-forming centrals and satellites and the observed M* for the star-forming satellites is independent of halo mass above 10{sup 12} M{sub Sun }, which emphasizes the universality of the mass-quenching process that we identified in Peng et al. Post-quenching merging modifies the mass function of the central galaxies but can

Constraints on stellar populations in elliptical galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rose, J.A.

1985-01-01

Photographic image-tube spectra in the wavelength interval 3400--4500 A have been obtained for 12 elliptical galaxy nuclei and for a number of Galactic globular and open clusters in integrated light. The spectra have a wavelength resolution of 2.5 A and a high signal-to-noise ratio. A new quantitative three-dimensional spectral-classification system that has been calibrated on a sample of approx.200 individual stars (Rose 1984) is used to analyze the integrated spectra of the ellipical galaxy nuclei and to compare them with those of the globular clusters. This system is based on spectral indices that are formed by comparing neighborhood spectral features and is unaffected by reddening. The following results have been found: (1) Hot stars (i.e., spectral types A and B) contribute only 2% to the integrated spectra of elliptical galaxies at approx.4000 A, except in the nucleus of NGC 205, where the hot component dominates. This finding is based on a spectral index formed from the relative central intensities in the Ca II H+Hepsilon and Ca II K lines, which is shown to be constant for late-type (i.e., F, G, and K) stars, but changes drastically at earlier types. The observed Ca II H+Hepsilon/Ca II K indices in ellipticals can be reproduced by the inclusion of a small metal-poor population (as in the globular cluster M5) that contributes approx.8% of the light at 4000 A. Such a contribution is qualitatively consistent with the amount of

SUPERDENSE GALAXIES AND THE MASS-SIZE RELATION AT LOW REDSHIFT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poggianti, B. M.; Calvi, R.; Fasano, G.; Vulcani, B.; Bettoni, D.; Gullieuszik, M.; Omizzolo, A.; Bindoni, D.; D'Onofrio, M.; Moretti, A.; Valentinuzzi, T.; Fritz, J.; De Lucia, G.

2013-01-01

We search for massive and compact galaxies (superdense galaxies, hereafter SDGs) at z = 0.03-0.11 in the Padova-Millennium Galaxy and Group Catalogue, a spectroscopically complete sample representative of the general field population of the local universe. We find that compact galaxies with radii and mass densities comparable to high-z massive and passive galaxies represent 4.4% of all galaxies with stellar masses above 3 × 10 10 M ☉ , yielding a number density of 4.3 × 10 –4 h 3 Mpc –3 . Most of them are S0s (70%) or ellipticals (23%), are red, and have intermediate-to-old stellar populations, with a median luminosity-weighted age of 5.4 Gyr and a median mass-weighted age of 9.2 Gyr. Their velocity dispersions and dynamical masses are consistent with the small radii and high stellar mass estimates. Comparing with the WINGS sample of cluster galaxies at similar redshifts, the fraction of SDGs is three times smaller in the field than in clusters, and cluster SDGs are on average 4 Gyr older than field SDGs. We confirm the existence of a universal trend of smaller radii for older luminosity-weighted ages at fixed galaxy mass. As a consequence, the median mass-size relation shifts toward smaller radii for galaxies with older stars, but the effect is much more pronounced in clusters than in the field. Our results show that, on top of the well-known dependence of stellar age on galaxy mass, the luminosity-weighted age of galaxies depends on galaxy compactness at fixed mass and, for a fixed mass and radius, on environment. This effect needs to be taken into account in order not to overestimate the evolution of galaxy sizes from high to low z. Our results and hierarchical simulations suggest that a significant fraction of the massive compact galaxies at high z have evolved into compact galaxies in galaxy clusters today. When stellar age and environmental effects are taken into account, the average amount of size evolution of individual galaxies between high and low

RAVEN AND THE CENTER OF MAFFEI 1: MULTI-OBJECT ADAPTIVE OPTICS OBSERVATIONS OF THE CENTER OF A NEARBY ELLIPTICAL GALAXY AND THE DETECTION OF AN INTERMEDIATE AGE POPULATION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davidge, T. J.; Andersen, D. R. [Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, National Research Council of Canada, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7 (Canada); Lardière, O.; Bradley, C.; Blain, C. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 3P2 (Canada); Oya, S. [Subaru Telescope, National Optical Observatory of Japan Hilo, HI 96720 (United States); Akiyama, M.; Ono, Y. H., E-mail: tim.davidge@nrc.ca, E-mail: david.andersen@nrc.ca, E-mail: lardiere@uvic.ca, E-mail: cbr@uvic.ca, E-mail: celia.blain@gmail.com, E-mail: oya@subaru.naoj.org, E-mail: akiyama@astr.tohoku.ac.jp, E-mail: yo-2007@astr.tohoku.ac.jp [Astronomical Institute, Tohoku University 6–3 Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sedai, 980-8578 Japan (Japan)

2015-10-01

Near-infrared (NIR) spectra that have an angular resolution of ∼0.15 arcsec are used to examine the stellar content of the central regions of the nearby elliptical galaxy Maffei 1. The spectra were recorded at the Subaru Telescope, with wavefront distortions corrected by the RAVEN Multi-object Adaptive Optics science demonstrator. The Ballick–Ramsey C{sub 2} absorption bandhead near 1.76 μm is detected, and models in which ∼10%–20% of the light near 1.8 μm originates from stars of spectral type C5 reproduce the depth of this feature. Archival NIR and mid-infrared images are also used to probe the structural and photometric properties of the galaxy. Comparisons with models suggest that an intermediate age population dominates the spectral energy distribution between 1 and 5 μm near the galaxy center. This is consistent not only with the presence of C stars, but also with the large Hβ index that has been measured previously for Maffei 1. The J − K color is more or less constant within 15 arcsec of the galaxy center, suggesting that the brightest red stars are well-mixed in this area.

Evolution of LMC/M33-mass dwarf galaxies in the EAGLE simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Shi; Cautun, Marius; Deason, Alis J.; Frenk, Carlos S.; Theuns, Tom

2018-06-01

We investigate the population of dwarf galaxies with stellar masses similar to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and M33 in the EAGLE galaxy formation simulation. In the field, galaxies reside in haloes with stellar-to-halo mass ratios of 1.03^{+0.50}_{-0.31}× 10^{-2} (68% confidence level); systems like the LMC, which have an SMC-mass satellite, reside in haloes about 1.3 times more massive, which suggests an LMC halo mass at infall, M_{200}=3.4^{+1.8}_{-1.2}× 10^{11}{ M_⊙ } (68% confidence level). The colour distribution of dwarfs is bimodal, with the red galaxies (g - r > 0.6) being mostly satellites. The fraction of red LMC-mass dwarfs is 15% for centrals, and for satellites this fraction increases rapidly with host mass: from 10% for satellites of Milky Way (MW)-mass haloes to nearly 90% for satellites of groups and clusters. The quenching timescale, defined as the time after infall when half of the satellites have acquired red colours, decreases with host mass from >5 Gyrs for MW-mass hosts to 2.5 Gyrs for cluster mass hosts. The satellites of MW-mass haloes have higher star formation rates and bluer colours than field galaxies. This is due to enhanced star formation triggered by gas compression shortly after accretion. Both the LMC and M33 have enhanced recent star formation that could be a manifestation of this process. After infall into their MW-mass hosts, the g - r colours of LMC-mass dwarfs become bluer for the first 2 Gyrs, after which they rapidly redden. LMC-mass dwarfs fell into their MW-mass hosts only relatively recently, with more than half having an infall time of less than 3.5 Gyrs.

Multiple populations within globular clusters in Early-type galaxies Exploring their effect on stellar initial mass function estimates

Science.gov (United States)

Chantereau, W.; Usher, C.; Bastian, N.

2018-05-01

It is now well-established that most (if not all) ancient globular clusters host multiple populations, that are characterised by distinct chemical features such as helium abundance variations along with N-C and Na-O anti-correlations, at fixed [Fe/H]. These very distinct chemical features are similar to what is found in the centres of the massive early-type galaxies and may influence measurements of the global properties of the galaxies. Additionally, recent results have suggested that M/L variations found in the centres of massive early-type galaxies might be due to a bottom-heavy stellar initial mass function. We present an analysis of the effects of globular cluster-like multiple populations on the integrated properties of early-type galaxies. In particular, we focus on spectral features in the integrated optical spectrum and the global mass-to-light ratio that have been used to infer variations in the stellar initial mass function. To achieve this we develop appropriate stellar population synthesis models and take into account, for the first time, an initial-final mass relation which takes into consideration a varying He abundance. We conclude that while the multiple populations may be present in massive early-type galaxies, they are likely not responsible for the observed variations in the mass-to-light ratio and IMF sensitive line strengths. Finally, we estimate the fraction of stars with multiple populations chemistry that come from disrupted globular clusters within massive ellipticals and find that they may explain some of the observed chemical patterns in the centres of these galaxies.

VLT/FLAMES spectroscopy of red giant branch stars in the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lemasle, B.; de Boer, T.J.L.; Hill, V.; Tolstoy, E.; Irwin, M.J.; Jablonka, P.; Venn, K.; Battaglia, G.; Starkenburg, E.; Shetrone, M.; Letarte, B.; François, P.; Helmi, A.; Primas, F.; Kaufer, A.; Szeifert, T.

2014-01-01

Context. Fornax is one of the most massive dwarf spheroidal galaxies in the Local Group. The Fornax field star population is dominated by intermediate age stars but star formation was going on over almost its entire history. It has been proposed that Fornax experienced a minor merger event. Aims.

Low-amplitude clustering in low-redshift 21-cm intensity maps cross-correlated with 2dF galaxy densities

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, C. J.; Luciw, N. J.; Li, Y.-C.; Kuo, C. Y.; Yadav, J.; Masui, K. W.; Chang, T.-C.; Chen, X.; Oppermann, N.; Liao, Y.-W.; Pen, U.-L.; Price, D. C.; Staveley-Smith, L.; Switzer, E. R.; Timbie, P. T.; Wolz, L.

2018-05-01

We report results from 21-cm intensity maps acquired from the Parkes radio telescope and cross-correlated with galaxy maps from the 2dF galaxy survey. The data span the redshift range 0.057 clustering of neutral hydrogen (H I), a small correlation coefficient between optical galaxies and H I, or some combination of the two. Separating 2dF into red and blue galaxies, we find that red galaxies are much more weakly correlated with H I on k ˜ 1.5 h Mpc-1 scales, suggesting that H I is more associated with blue star-forming galaxies and tends to avoid red galaxies.

From starburst to quiescence: testing active galactic nucleus feedback in rapidly quenching post-starburst galaxies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yesuf, Hassen M.; Faber, S. M.; Trump, Jonathan R.; Koo, David C.; Fang, Jerome J.; Liu, F. S. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Wild, Vivienne [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, KY16 9SS (United Kingdom); Hayward, Christopher C. [Heidelberger Institut für Theoretische Studien, Schloss-Wolfsbrunnenweg 35, D-69118 Heidelberg (Germany)

2014-09-10

Post-starbursts are galaxies in transition from the blue cloud to the red sequence. Although they are rare today, integrated over time they may be an important pathway to the red sequence. This work uses Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer observations to identify the evolutionary sequence from starbursts to fully quenched post-starbursts (QPSBs) in the narrow mass range log M(M {sub ☉}) = 10.3-10.7, and identifies 'transiting' post-starbursts (TPSBs) which are intermediate between these two populations. In this mass range, ∼0.3% of galaxies are starbursts, ∼0.1% are QPSBs, and ∼0.5% are the transiting types in between. The TPSBs have stellar properties that are predicted for fast-quenching starbursts and morphological characteristics that are already typical of early-type galaxies. The active galactic nucleus (AGN) fraction, as estimated from optical line ratios, of these post-starbursts is about three times higher (≳ 36% ± 8%) than that of normal star forming galaxies of the same mass, but there is a significant delay between the starburst phase and the peak of nuclear optical AGN activity (median age difference of ≳ 200 ± 100 Myr), in agreement with previous studies. The time delay is inferred by comparing the broadband near-NUV-to-optical photometry with stellar population synthesis models. We also find that starbursts and post-starbursts are significantly more dust obscured than normal star forming galaxies in the same mass range. About 20% of the starbursts and 15% of the TPSBs can be classified as 'dust-obscured galaxies' (DOGs), with a near-UV-to-mid-IR flux ratio of ≳ 900, while only 0.8% of normal galaxies are DOGs. The time delay between the starburst phase and AGN activity suggests that AGNs do not play a primary role in the original quenching of starbursts but may be responsible for quenching later low-level star formation by removing gas and dust during

High-redshift Galaxies and Black Holes Detectable with the JWST: A Population Synthesis Model from Infrared to X-Rays

Science.gov (United States)

Volonteri, Marta; Reines, Amy E.; Atek, Hakim; Stark, Daniel P.; Trebitsch, Maxime

2017-11-01

The first billion years of the Universe has been a pivotal time: stars, black holes (BHs), and galaxies formed and assembled, sowing the seeds of galaxies as we know them today. Detecting, identifying, and understanding the first galaxies and BHs is one of the current observational and theoretical challenges in galaxy formation. In this paper we present a population synthesis model aimed at galaxies, BHs, and active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at high redshift. The model builds a population based on empirical relations. The spectral energy distribution of galaxies is determined by age and metallicity, and that of AGNs by BH mass and accretion rate. We validate the model against observations, and predict properties of galaxies and AGN in other wavelength and/or luminosity ranges, estimating the contamination of stellar populations (normal stars and high-mass X-ray binaries) for AGN searches from the infrared to X-rays, and vice versa for galaxy searches. For high-redshift galaxies with stellar ages < 1 {Gyr}, we find that disentangling stellar and AGN emission is challenging at restframe UV/optical wavelengths, while high-mass X-ray binaries become more important sources of confusion in X-rays. We propose a color-color selection in the James Webb Space Telescope bands to separate AGN versus star-dominated galaxies in photometric observations. We also estimate the AGN contribution, with respect to massive, hot, and metal-poor stars, at driving high-ionization lines, such as C IV and He II. Finally, we test the influence of the minimum BH mass and occupation fraction of BHs in low-mass galaxies on the restframe UV/near-IR and X-ray AGN luminosity function.

THE MASSIVE SATELLITE POPULATION OF MILKY-WAY-SIZED GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodríguez-Puebla, Aldo; Avila-Reese, Vladimir; Drory, Niv

2013-01-01

for the ΛCDM cosmology. However, we confirm that the maximum circular velocity, v max , of the subhalos of satellites smaller than m * ∼ 10 8 M ☉ is systematically larger than the v max inferred from current observational studies of the MW bright dwarf satellites; different from previous works, this conclusion is based on an analysis of the overall population of MW-sized galaxies. Some pieces of evidence suggest that the issue could refer only to satellite dwarfs but not to central dwarfs, then environmental processes associated with dwarfs inside host halos combined with supernova-driven core expansion should be on the basis of the lowering of v max

Connections between Star Cluster Populations and Their Host Galaxy Nuclear Rings

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Chao; de Grijs, Richard; Ho, Luis C.

2018-04-01

Nuclear rings are excellent laboratories for probing diverse phenomena such as the formation and evolution of young massive star clusters and nuclear starbursts, as well as the secular evolution and dynamics of their host galaxies. We have compiled a sample of 17 galaxies with nuclear rings, which are well resolved by high-resolution Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescope imaging. For each nuclear ring, we identified the ring star cluster population, along with their physical properties (ages, masses, and extinction values). We also determined the integrated ring properties, including the average age, total stellar mass, and current star formation rate (SFR). We find that Sb-type galaxies tend to have the highest ring stellar mass fraction with respect to the host galaxy, and this parameter is correlated with the ring’s SFR surface density. The ring SFRs are correlated with their stellar masses, which is reminiscent of the main sequence of star-forming galaxies. There are striking correlations between star-forming properties (i.e., SFR and SFR surface density) and nonaxisymmetric bar parameters, appearing to confirm previous inferences that strongly barred galaxies tend to have lower ring SFRs, although the ring star formation histories turn out to be significantly more complicated. Nuclear rings with higher stellar masses tend to be associated with lower cluster mass fractions, but there is no such relation for the ages of the rings. The two youngest nuclear rings in our sample, NGC 1512 and NGC 4314, which have the most extreme physical properties, represent the young extremity of the nuclear ring age distribution.

SPATIAL ANISOTROPY OF GALAXY KINEMATICS IN SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY GALAXY CLUSTERS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skielboe, Andreas; Wojtak, Radosław; Pedersen, Kristian; Rozo, Eduardo; Rykoff, Eli S.

2012-01-01

Measurements of galaxy cluster kinematics are important in understanding the dynamical state and evolution of clusters of galaxies, as well as constraining cosmological models. While it is well established that clusters exhibit non-spherical geometries, evident in the distribution of galaxies on the sky, azimuthal variations of galaxy kinematics within clusters have yet to be observed. Here we measure the azimuthal dependence of the line-of-sight velocity dispersion profile in a stacked sample of 1743 galaxy clusters from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The clusters are drawn from the SDSS DR8 redMaPPer catalog. We find that the line-of-sight velocity dispersion of galaxies lying along the major axis of the central galaxy is larger than those that lie along the minor axis. This is the first observational detection of anisotropic kinematics of galaxies in clusters. We show that the result is consistent with predictions from numerical simulations. Furthermore, we find that the degree of projected anisotropy is strongly dependent on the line-of-sight orientation of the galaxy cluster, opening new possibilities for assessing systematics in optical cluster finding.

Spectroscopy of Six Red Giants in the Draco Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Graeme H.; Siegel, Michael H.; Shetrone, Matthew D.; Winnick, Rebeccah

2006-10-01

Keck Observatory LRIS-B (Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) spectra are reported for six red giant stars in the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy and several comparison giants in the globular cluster M13. Indexes that quantify the strengths of the Ca II H and K lines, the λ3883 and λ4215 CN bands, and the λ4300 G band have been measured. These data confirm evidence of metallicity inhomogeneity within Draco obtained by previous authors. The four brightest giants in the sample have absolute magnitudes in the range -2.6intermediate-mass asymptotic giant branch stars to enrich the interstellar medium while star formation was still occurring. The data presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.

OGLE-ing the Magellanic system: stellar populations in the Magellanic Bridge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skowron, D. M.; Jacyszyn, A. M.; Udalski, A.; Szymański, M. K.; Skowron, J.; Poleski, R.; Kozłowski, S.; Kubiak, M.; Pietrzyński, G.; Soszyński, I.; Mróz, P.; Pietrukowicz, P.; Ulaczyk, K.; Wyrzykowski, Ł.

2014-01-01

We report the discovery of a young stellar bridge that forms a continuous connection between the Magellanic Clouds. This finding is based on number density maps for stellar populations found in data gathered by OGLE-IV that fully cover over 270 deg 2 of the sky in the Magellanic Bridge area. This is the most extensive optical survey of this region to date. We find that the young population is present mainly in the western half of the MBR, which, together with the newly discovered young population in the eastern Bridge, form a continuous stream of stars connecting both galaxies along δ ∼ –73.5 deg. The young population distribution is clumped, with one of the major densities close to the SMC and the other fairly isolated and located approximately mid-way between the Clouds, which we call the OGLE island. These overdensities are well matched by H I surface density contours, although the newly found young population in the eastern Bridge is offset by ∼2 deg north from the highest H I density contour. We observe a continuity of red clump stars between the Magellanic Clouds which represent an intermediate-age population. Red clump stars are present mainly in the southern and central parts of the Magellanic Bridge, below its gaseous part, and their presence is reflected by a strong deviation from the radial density profiles of the two galaxies. This may indicate either a tidal stream of stars, or that the stellar halos of the two galaxies overlap. On the other hand, we do not observe such an overlap within an intermediate-age population represented by the top of the red giant branch and the asymptotic giant branch stars. We also see only minor mixing of the old populations of the Clouds in the southern part of the Bridge, represented by the lowest part of the red giant branch.

OGLE-ing the Magellanic system: stellar populations in the Magellanic Bridge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Skowron, D. M.; Jacyszyn, A. M.; Udalski, A.; Szymański, M. K.; Skowron, J.; Poleski, R.; Kozłowski, S.; Kubiak, M.; Pietrzyński, G.; Soszyński, I.; Mróz, P.; Pietrukowicz, P.; Ulaczyk, K.; Wyrzykowski, Ł., E-mail: dszczyg@astrouw.edu.pl [Warsaw University Astronomical Observatory, Aleje Ujazdowskie 4, 00-478 Warszawa (Poland)

2014-11-10

We report the discovery of a young stellar bridge that forms a continuous connection between the Magellanic Clouds. This finding is based on number density maps for stellar populations found in data gathered by OGLE-IV that fully cover over 270 deg{sup 2} of the sky in the Magellanic Bridge area. This is the most extensive optical survey of this region to date. We find that the young population is present mainly in the western half of the MBR, which, together with the newly discovered young population in the eastern Bridge, form a continuous stream of stars connecting both galaxies along δ ∼ –73.5 deg. The young population distribution is clumped, with one of the major densities close to the SMC and the other fairly isolated and located approximately mid-way between the Clouds, which we call the OGLE island. These overdensities are well matched by H I surface density contours, although the newly found young population in the eastern Bridge is offset by ∼2 deg north from the highest H I density contour. We observe a continuity of red clump stars between the Magellanic Clouds which represent an intermediate-age population. Red clump stars are present mainly in the southern and central parts of the Magellanic Bridge, below its gaseous part, and their presence is reflected by a strong deviation from the radial density profiles of the two galaxies. This may indicate either a tidal stream of stars, or that the stellar halos of the two galaxies overlap. On the other hand, we do not observe such an overlap within an intermediate-age population represented by the top of the red giant branch and the asymptotic giant branch stars. We also see only minor mixing of the old populations of the Clouds in the southern part of the Bridge, represented by the lowest part of the red giant branch.

Establishment of a Viable Population of Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers at the Savannah River Site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnston, P.A.

2002-01-01

Report on program's objective to restore viable population of Red-cockaded woodpecker at SRS. Several management strategies were used to promote population expansion of Red-cockaded woodpecker and reduction of interspecific competition with Red-Cockaded woodpecker

CATCHING QUENCHING GALAXIES: THE NATURE OF THE WISE INFRARED TRANSITION ZONE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alatalo, Katherine; Appleton, Philip N.; Rich, Jeffrey A. [Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Cales, Sabrina L. [Department of Astronomy, Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción (Chile); Kewley, Lisa J. [Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Cotter Road, Weston, ACT 2611 (Australia); Lacy, Mark [National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States); Lisenfeld, Ute [Departamento de Física Teórica y del Cosmos, Universidad de Granada, Granada (Spain); Nyland, Kristina, E-mail: kalatalo@caltech.edu [Physics Department, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM 87801 (United States)

2014-10-10

We present the discovery of a prominent bifurcation between early-type galaxies and late-type galaxies, in [4.6]-[12] μm colors from the Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). We then use an emission-line diagnostic comparison sample to explore the nature of objects found both within and near the edges of this WISE infrared transition zone (IRTZ). We hypothesize that this bifurcation might be due to the presence of hot dust and polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission features in late-type galaxies. Using a sample of galaxies selected through the Shocked Poststarburst Galaxy Survey (SPOGS), we are able to identify galaxies with strong Balmer absorption (EW(Hδ) > 5 Å) as well as emission lines inconsistent with star formation (deemed SPOG candidates, or SPOGs*) that lie within the optical green valley. Seyferts and low-ionization nuclear emission line regions, whose u – r colors tend to be red, are strongly represented within IRTZ, whereas SPOGs* tend to sit near the star-forming edge. Although active galactic nuclei are well represented in the IRTZ, we argue that the dominant IRTZ population is composed of galaxies that are in late stages of transitioning across the optical green valley, shedding the last of their remnant interstellar media.

Must Star-forming Galaxies Rapidly Get Denser before They Quench?

Science.gov (United States)

Abramson, L. E.; Morishita, T.

2018-05-01

Using the deepest data yet obtained, we find no evidence preferring compaction-triggered quenching—where rapid increases in galaxy density truncate star formation—over a null hypothesis in which galaxies age at constant surface density ({{{Σ }}}e\\equiv {M}* /2π {r}e2). Results from two fully empirical analyses and one quenching-free model calculation support this claim at all z ≤ 3: (1) qualitatively, galaxies’ mean U–V colors at 6.5 ≲ {log}{{{Σ }}}e/{\\text{}}{M}ȯ {kpc}}-2≲ 10 have reddened at rates/times correlated with {{{Σ }}}e, implying that there is no density threshold at which galaxies turn red but that {{{Σ }}}e sets the pace of maturation; (2) quantitatively, the abundance of {log}{M}* /{\\text{}}{M}ȯ ≥slant 9.4 red galaxies never exceeds that of the total population a quenching time earlier at any {{{Σ }}}e, implying that galaxies need not transit from low to high densities before quenching; (3) applying d{log}{r}e/{dt}=1/2 d{log}{M}* /{dt} to a suite of lognormal star formation histories reproduces the evolution of the size–mass relation at {log}{M}* /{\\text{}}{M}ȯ ≥slant 10. All results are consistent with evolutionary rates being set ab initio by global densities, with denser objects evolving faster than less-dense ones toward a terminal quiescence induced by gas depletion or other ∼Hubble-timescale phenomena. Unless stellar ages demand otherwise, observed {{{Σ }}}e thresholds need not bear any physical relation to quenching beyond this intrinsic density–formation epoch correlation, adding to Lilly & Carollo’s arguments to that effect.

GLOBULAR CLUSTER POPULATIONS: FIRST RESULTS FROM S{sup 4}G EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zaritsky, Dennis [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Aravena, Manuel [Núcleo de Astronomía, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Diego Portales, Avenida Ejército 441, Santiago (Chile); Athanassoula, E.; Bosma, Albert [Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, LAM (Laboratoire d' Astrophysique de Marseille) UMR 7326, F-13388 Marseille (France); Comerón, Sébastien; Laine, Jarkko; Laurikainen, Eija; Salo, Heikki [Astronomy Division, Department of Physics, P.O. Box 3000, FI-90014 University of Oulu (Finland); Elmegreen, Bruce G. [IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, 1101 Kitchawan Road, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598 (United States); Erroz-Ferrer, Santiago; Knapen, Johan H. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Vía Lácteas, E-38205 La Laguna (Spain); Gadotti, Dimitri A.; Muñoz-Mateos, Juan Carlos [European Southern Observatory, Casilla 19001, Santiago 19 (Chile); Hinz, Joannah L. [MMT Observatory, P.O. Box 210065, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Ho, Luis C. [Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China); Holwerda, Benne [Leiden Observatory, University of Leiden, Niels Bohrweg 4, NL-2333 Leiden (Netherlands); Sheth, Kartik, E-mail: dennis.zaritsky@gmail.com [National Radio Astronomy Observatory/NAASC, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States)

2015-02-01

Using 3.6 μm images of 97 early-type galaxies, we develop and verify methodology to measure globular cluster populations from the S{sup 4}G survey images. We find that (1) the ratio, T {sub N}, of the number of clusters, N {sub CL}, to parent galaxy stellar mass, M {sub *}, rises weakly with M {sub *} for early-type galaxies with M {sub *} > 10{sup 10} M {sub ☉} when we calculate galaxy masses using a universal stellar initial mass function (IMF) but that the dependence of T {sub N} on M {sub *} is removed entirely once we correct for the recently uncovered systematic variation of IMF with M {sub *}; and (2) for M {sub *} < 10{sup 10} M {sub ☉}, there is no trend between N {sub CL} and M {sub *}, the scatter in T {sub N} is significantly larger (approaching two orders of magnitude), and there is evidence to support a previous, independent suggestion of two families of galaxies. The behavior of N {sub CL} in the lower-mass systems is more difficult to measure because these systems are inherently cluster-poor, but our results may add to previous evidence that large variations in cluster formation and destruction efficiencies are to be found among low-mass galaxies. The average fraction of stellar mass in clusters is ∼0.0014 for M {sub *} > 10{sup 10} M {sub ☉} and can be as large as ∼0.02 for less massive galaxies. These are the first results from the S{sup 4}G sample of galaxies and will be enhanced by the sample of early-type galaxies now being added to S{sup 4}G and complemented by the study of later-type galaxies within S{sup 4}G.

SHARDS: AN OPTICAL SPECTRO-PHOTOMETRIC SURVEY OF DISTANT GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pérez-González, Pablo G.; Cava, Antonio; Barro, Guillermo; Villar, Víctor; Cardiel, Nicolás; Espino, Néstor; Gallego, Jesús; Ferreras, Ignacio; Rodríguez-Espinosa, José Miguel; Balcells, Marc; Cepa, Jordi; Alonso-Herrero, Almudena; Cenarro, Javier; Charlot, Stéphane; Cimatti, Andrea; Conselice, Christopher J.; Daddi, Emmanuele; Elbaz, David; Donley, Jennifer; Gobat, R.

2013-01-01

We present the Survey for High-z Absorption Red and Dead Sources (SHARDS), an ESO/GTC Large Program carried out using the OSIRIS instrument on the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). SHARDS is an ultra-deep optical spectro-photometric survey of the GOODS-N field covering 130 arcmin 2 at wavelengths between 500 and 950 nm with 24 contiguous medium-band filters (providing a spectral resolution R ∼ 50). The data reach an AB magnitude of 26.5 (at least at a 3σ level) with sub-arcsec seeing in all bands. SHARDS' main goal is to obtain accurate physical properties of intermediate- and high-z galaxies using well-sampled optical spectral energy distributions (SEDs) with sufficient spectral resolution to measure absorption and emission features, whose analysis will provide reliable stellar population and active galactic nucleus (AGN) parameters. Among the different populations of high-z galaxies, SHARDS' principal targets are massive quiescent galaxies at z > 1, whose existence is one of the major challenges facing current hierarchical models of galaxy formation. In this paper, we outline the observational strategy and include a detailed discussion of the special reduction and calibration procedures which should be applied to the GTC/OSIRIS data. An assessment of the SHARDS data quality is also performed. We present science demonstration results on the detection and study of emission-line galaxies (star-forming objects and AGNs) at z = 0-5. We also analyze the SEDs for a sample of 27 quiescent massive galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the range 1.0 < z ∼< 1.4. We discuss the improvements introduced by the SHARDS data set in the analysis of their star formation history and stellar properties. We discuss the systematics arising from the use of different stellar population libraries, typical in this kind of study. Averaging the results from the different libraries, we find that the UV-to-MIR SEDs of the massive quiescent galaxies at z = 1.0-1.4 are well

SHARDS: AN OPTICAL SPECTRO-PHOTOMETRIC SURVEY OF DISTANT GALAXIES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perez-Gonzalez, Pablo G.; Cava, Antonio; Barro, Guillermo; Villar, Victor; Cardiel, Nicolas; Espino, Nestor; Gallego, Jesus [Departamento de Astrofisica, Facultad de CC. Fisicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, E-28040 Madrid (Spain); Ferreras, Ignacio [Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT (United Kingdom); Rodriguez-Espinosa, Jose Miguel; Balcells, Marc; Cepa, Jordi [Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Alonso-Herrero, Almudena [Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria, CSIC-Universidad de Cantabria, E-39005 Santander (Spain); Cenarro, Javier [Centro de Estudios de Fisica del Cosmos de Aragon, Plaza San Juan 1, Planta 2, E-44001 Teruel (Spain); Charlot, Stephane [Institut d' Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS, Universite Pierre and Marie Curie, UMR 7095, 98bis bd Arago, F-75014 Paris (France); Cimatti, Andrea [Dipartimento di Astronomia, Universita degli Studi di Bologna, I-40127 Bologna (Italy); Conselice, Christopher J. [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD (United Kingdom); Daddi, Emmanuele; Elbaz, David [CEA, Laboratoire AIM, Irfu/SAp, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Donley, Jennifer [Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM (United States); Gobat, R. [Laboratoire AIM-Paris-Saclay, CEA/DSM-CNRS-Universite Paris Diderot, Irfu/Service d' Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, Orme des Merisiers, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); and others

2013-01-01

We present the Survey for High-z Absorption Red and Dead Sources (SHARDS), an ESO/GTC Large Program carried out using the OSIRIS instrument on the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). SHARDS is an ultra-deep optical spectro-photometric survey of the GOODS-N field covering 130 arcmin{sup 2} at wavelengths between 500 and 950 nm with 24 contiguous medium-band filters (providing a spectral resolution R {approx} 50). The data reach an AB magnitude of 26.5 (at least at a 3{sigma} level) with sub-arcsec seeing in all bands. SHARDS' main goal is to obtain accurate physical properties of intermediate- and high-z galaxies using well-sampled optical spectral energy distributions (SEDs) with sufficient spectral resolution to measure absorption and emission features, whose analysis will provide reliable stellar population and active galactic nucleus (AGN) parameters. Among the different populations of high-z galaxies, SHARDS' principal targets are massive quiescent galaxies at z > 1, whose existence is one of the major challenges facing current hierarchical models of galaxy formation. In this paper, we outline the observational strategy and include a detailed discussion of the special reduction and calibration procedures which should be applied to the GTC/OSIRIS data. An assessment of the SHARDS data quality is also performed. We present science demonstration results on the detection and study of emission-line galaxies (star-forming objects and AGNs) at z = 0-5. We also analyze the SEDs for a sample of 27 quiescent massive galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the range 1.0 < z {approx}< 1.4. We discuss the improvements introduced by the SHARDS data set in the analysis of their star formation history and stellar properties. We discuss the systematics arising from the use of different stellar population libraries, typical in this kind of study. Averaging the results from the different libraries, we find that the UV-to-MIR SEDs of the massive quiescent galaxies at

Stellar Populations in Compact Galaxy Groups: a Multi-wavelength Study of HCGs 16, 22, and 42, Their Star Clusters, and Dwarf Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Konstantopoulos, I. S.; Maybhate, A.; Charlton, J. C.; Fedotov, K.; Durrell, P. R.; Mulchaey, J. S.; English, J.; Desjardins, T. D.; Gallagher, S. C.; Walker, L. M.;

THE SDSS-IV EXTENDED BARYON OSCILLATION SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY: LUMINOUS RED GALAXY TARGET SELECTION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prakash, Abhishek; Licquia, Timothy C.; Newman, Jeffrey A.; Rao, Sandhya M. [PITT PACC, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Ross, Ashley J. [Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Myers, Adam D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071 (United States); Dawson, Kyle S.; Bautista, Julian E.; Brownstein, Joel R. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States); Kneib, Jean-Paul [Laboratoire d’Astrophysique, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Observatoire de Sauverny, 1290 Versoix (Switzerland); Percival, Will J. [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, Dennis Sciama Building, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Comparat, Johan [Instituto de Física Teórica, (UAM/CSIC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid (Spain); Tinker, Jeremy L. [Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003 (United States); Schlegel, David J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Tojeiro, Rita [School of Physics and Astronomy, St Andrews, KY16 9SS (United Kingdom); Ho, Shirley; Lang, Dustin [Bruce and Astrid McWilliams Center for Cosmology, Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (United States); McBride, Cameron K. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Harvard University, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Zhu, Guangtun Ben, E-mail: abp15@pitt.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); and others

2016-06-01

We describe the algorithm used to select the luminous red galaxy (LRG) sample for the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV) using photometric data from both the SDSS and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer . LRG targets are required to meet a set of color selection criteria and have z -band and i -band MODEL magnitudes z < 19.95 and 19.9 < i < 21.8, respectively. Our algorithm selects roughly 50 LRG targets per square degree, the great majority of which lie in the redshift range 0.6 < z < 1.0 (median redshift 0.71). We demonstrate that our methods are highly effective at eliminating stellar contamination and lower-redshift galaxies. We perform a number of tests using spectroscopic data from SDSS-III/BOSS ancillary programs to determine the redshift reliability of our target selection and its ability to meet the science requirements of eBOSS. The SDSS spectra are of high enough signal-to-noise ratio that at least ∼89% of the target sample yields secure redshift measurements. We also present tests of the uniformity and homogeneity of the sample, demonstrating that it should be clean enough for studies of the large-scale structure of the universe at higher redshifts than SDSS-III/BOSS LRGs reached.

SHARDS: a spectro-photometric analysis of distant red and dead massive galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez-González, P. G.; Cava, A.; The Shards Team

2013-05-01

SHARDS, an ESO/GTC Large Program, is an ultra-deep (26.5 mag) spectro-photometric survey carried out with GTC/OSIRIS and designed to select and study massive passively evolving galaxies at z= 1.0--2.5 in the GOODS-N field. The survey uses a set of 24 medium band filters (FWHM ˜15 nm) covering the 500--950 nm spectral range. Our observing strategy has been planned to detect, for z>1 sources, the prominent Mg absorption feature (at rest-frame ˜280 nm), a distinctive, necessary, and sufficient feature of evolved stellar populations (older than 0.5 Gyr). These observations are being used to: (1) construct for the first time an unbiased sample of high-z quiescent galaxies, which extends to fainter magnitudes the samples selected with color techniques and spectroscopic surveys; (2) derive accurate ages and stellar masses based on robust measurements of spectral features such as the Mg(UV) or D(4000) indices; (3) measure their redshift with an accuracy Δ z/(1+z)<0.02; and (4) study emission-line galaxies (starbursts and AGN) up to very high redshifts. The well-sampled optical SEDs provided by SHARDS for all sources in the GOODS-N field are a valuable complement for current and future surveys carried out with other telescopes (e.g., Spitzer, HST, and Herschel).

THE UVJ SELECTION OF QUIESCENT AND STAR-FORMING GALAXIES: SEPARATING EARLY- AND LATE-TYPE GALAXIES AND ISOLATING EDGE-ON SPIRALS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patel, Shannon G.; Franx, Marijn; Holden, Bradford P.; Illingworth, Garth D.; Kelson, Daniel D.; Van der Wel, Arjen

2012-01-01

We utilize for the first time Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys imaging to examine the structural properties of galaxies in the rest-frame U – V versus V – J diagram (i.e., the UVJ diagram) using a sample at 0.6 ☉ >10.25). The use of the UVJ diagram as a tool to distinguish quiescent galaxies from star-forming galaxies (SFGs) is becoming more common due to its ability to separate red quiescent galaxies from reddened SFGs. Quiescent galaxies occupy a small and distinct region of UVJ color space and we find most of them to have concentrated profiles with high Sérsic indices (n > 2.5) and smooth structure characteristic of early-type systems. SFGs populate a broad but well-defined sequence of UVJ colors and are comprised of objects with a mix of Sérsic indices. Interestingly, most UVJ-selected SFGs with high Sérsic indices also display structure due to dust and star formation typical of the n < 2.5 SFGs and late-type systems. Finally, we find that the position of an SFG on the sequence of UVJ colors is determined to a large degree by the mass of the galaxy and its inclination. Systems that are closer to edge-on generally display redder colors and lower [O II]λ3727 luminosity per unit mass as a consequence of the reddening due to dust within the disks. We conclude that the two main features seen in UVJ color space correspond closely to the traditional morphological classes of early- and late-type galaxies.

Near-Field Cosmology with Resolved Stellar Populations Around Local Volume LMC Stellar-Mass Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Carlin, Jeffrey L.; Sand, David J.; Willman, Beth; Brodie, Jean P.; Crnojevic, Denija; Forbes, Duncan; Hargis, Jonathan R.; Peter, Annika; Pucha, Ragadeepika; Romanowsky, Aaron J.; Spekkens, Kristine; Strader, Jay

2018-06-01

We discuss our ongoing observational program to comprehensively map the entire virial volumes of roughly LMC stellar mass galaxies at distances of ~2-4 Mpc. The MADCASH (Magellanic Analog Dwarf Companions And Stellar Halos) survey will deliver the first census of the dwarf satellite populations and stellar halo properties within LMC-like environments in the Local Volume. Our results will inform our understanding of the recent DES discoveries of dwarf satellites tentatively affiliated with the LMC/SMC system. This program has already yielded the discovery of the faintest known dwarf galaxy satellite of an LMC stellar-mass host beyond the Local Group, based on deep Subaru+HyperSuprimeCam imaging reaching ~2 magnitudes below its TRGB, and at least two additional candidate satellites. We will summarize the survey results and status to date, highlighting some challenges encountered and lessons learned as we process the data for this program through a prototype LSST pipeline. Our program will examine whether LMC stellar mass dwarfs have extended stellar halos, allowing us to assess the relative contributions of in-situ stars vs. merger debris to their stellar populations and halo density profiles. We outline the constraints on galaxy formation models that will be provided by our observations of low-mass galaxy halos and their satellites.

NGC 404: A REJUVENATED LENTICULAR GALAXY ON A MERGER-INDUCED, BLUEWARD EXCURSION INTO THE GREEN VALLEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thilker, David A.; Bianchi, Luciana; Schiminovich, David; Gil de Paz, Armando; Seibert, Mark; Madore, Barry F.; Wyder, Ted; Barlow, Tom; Conrow, Tim; Forster, Karl; Friedman, Peter; Martin, Chris; Morrissey, Patrick; Small, Todd; Rich, R. Michael; Yi, Sukyoung; Neff, Susan

2010-01-01

We have discovered recent star formation in the outermost portion ((1-4) x R 25 ) of the nearby lenticular (S0) galaxy NGC 404 using Galaxy Evolution Explorer UV imaging. FUV-bright sources are strongly concentrated within the galaxy's H I ring (formed by a merger event according to del RIo et al.), even though the average gas density is dynamically subcritical. Archival Hubble Space Telescope imaging reveals resolved upper main-sequence stars and conclusively demonstrates that the UV light originates from recent star formation activity. We present FUV, NUV radial surface brightness profiles, and integrated magnitudes for NGC 404. Within the ring, the average star formation rate (SFR) surface density (Σ SFR ) is ∼2.2 x 10 -5 M sun yr -1 kpc -2 . Of the total FUV flux, 70% comes from the H I ring which is forming stars at a rate of 2.5 x 10 -3 M sun yr -1 . The gas consumption timescale, assuming a constant SFR and no gas recycling, is several times the age of the universe. In the context of the UV-optical galaxy color-magnitude diagram, the presence of the star-forming H I ring places NGC 404 in the green valley separating the red and blue sequences. The rejuvenated lenticular galaxy has experienced a merger-induced, disk-building excursion away from the red sequence toward bluer colors, where it may evolve quiescently or (if appropriately triggered) experience a burst capable of placing it on the blue/star-forming sequence for up to ∼1 Gyr. The green valley galaxy population is heterogeneous, with most systems transitioning from blue to red but others evolving in the opposite sense due to acquisition of fresh gas through various channels.

150 southern compact and bright-nucleus galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fairall, A.P.

1977-01-01

Galaxies having regions of exceptionally high surface brightness have been selected from the ESO Quick Blue Survey and investigated by 'grating photography' -direct photography plus low-dispersion slitless spectroscopy. Two new Seyfert galaxies and a peculiar multiple system have been discovered. Differences in red continua are also noted. (author)

Understanding the nature of luminous red galaxies (LRGs): connecting LRGs to central and satellite subhaloes

Science.gov (United States)

Masaki, Shogo; Hikage, Chiaki; Takada, Masahiro; Spergel, David N.; Sugiyama, Naoshi

2013-08-01

We develop a novel abundance matching method to construct a mock catalogue of luminous red galaxies (LRGs) in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), using catalogues of haloes and subhaloes in N-body simulations for a Λ-dominated cold dark matter model. Motivated by observations suggesting that LRGs are passively evolving, massive early-type galaxies with a typical age ≳5 Gyr, we assume that simulated haloes at z = 2 (z2-halo) are progenitors for LRG-host subhaloes observed today, and we label the most tightly bound particles in each progenitor z2-halo as LRG `stars'. We then identify the subhaloes containing these stars to z = 0.3 (SDSS redshift) in descending order of the masses of z2-haloes until the comoving number density of the matched subhaloes becomes comparable to the measured number density of SDSS LRGs, bar{n}_LRG=10^{-4} h^3 Mpc^{-3}. Once the above prescription is determined, our only free parameter is the number density of haloes identified at z = 2 and this parameter is fixed to match the observed number density at z = 0.3. By tracing subsequent merging and assembly histories of each progenitor z2-halo, we can directly compute, from the mock catalogue, the distributions of central and satellite LRGs and their internal motions in each host halo at z = 0.3. While the SDSS LRGs are galaxies selected by the magnitude and colour cuts from the SDSS images and are not necessarily a stellar-mass-selected sample, our mock catalogue reproduces a host of SDSS measurements: the halo occupation distribution for central and satellite LRGs, the projected autocorrelation function of LRGs, the cross-correlation of LRGs with shapes of background galaxies (LRG-galaxy weak lensing) and the non-linear redshift-space distortion effect, the Finger-of-God effect, in the angle-averaged redshift-space power spectrum. The mock catalogue generated based on our method can be used for removing or calibrating systematic errors in the cosmological interpretation of LRG clustering

THE ARECIBO LEGACY FAST ALFA SURVEY: THE GALAXY POPULATION DETECTED BY ALFALFA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Shan; Haynes, Martha P.; Giovanelli, Riccardo [Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Space Sciences Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Brinchmann, Jarle, E-mail: shan@astro.cornell.edu, E-mail: haynes@astro.cornell.edu, E-mail: riccardo@astro.cornell.edu, E-mail: jarle@strw.leidenuniv.nl [Sterrewacht Leiden, Leiden University, NL-2300 RA Leiden (Netherlands)

2012-09-10

Making use of H I 21 cm line measurements from the ALFALFA survey ({alpha}.40) and photometry from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), we investigate the global scaling relations and fundamental planes linking stars and gas for a sample of 9417 common galaxies: the {alpha}.40-SDSS-GALEX sample. In addition to their H I properties derived from the ALFALFA data set, stellar masses (M{sub *}) and star formation rates (SFRs) are derived from fitting the UV-optical spectral energy distributions. 96% of the {alpha}.40-SDSS-GALEX galaxies belong to the blue cloud, with the average gas fraction f{sub HI} {identical_to} M{sub HI}/M{sub *} {approx} 1.5. A transition in star formation (SF) properties is found whereby below M{sub *} {approx} 10{sup 9.5} M{sub Sun }, the slope of the star-forming sequence changes, the dispersion in the specific star formation rate (SSFR) distribution increases, and the star formation efficiency (SFE) mildly increases with M{sub *}. The evolutionary track in the SSFR-M{sub *} diagram, as well as that in the color-magnitude diagram, is linked to the H I content; below this transition mass, the SF is regulated strongly by the H I. Comparison of H I and optically selected samples over the same restricted volume shows that the H I-selected population is less evolved and has overall higher SFR and SSFR at a given stellar mass, but lower SFE and extinction, suggesting either that a bottleneck exists in the H I-to-H{sub 2} conversion or that the process of SF in the very H I-dominated galaxies obeys an unusual, low-efficiency SF law. A trend is found that, for a given stellar mass, high gas fraction galaxies reside preferentially in dark matter halos with high spin parameters. Because it represents a full census of H I-bearing galaxies at z {approx} 0, the scaling relations and fundamental planes derived for the ALFALFA population can be used to assess the H I detection rate by future blind H I surveys and

The x-ray luminous galaxy cluster population at 0.9 < z ≲ 1.6 as revealed by the XMM-Newton Distant Cluster Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fassbender, R; Böhringer, H; Nastasi, A; Šuhada, R; Mühlegger, M; Mohr, J J; Pierini, D; De Hoon, A; Kohnert, J; Lamer, G; Schwope, A D; Pratt, G W; Quintana, H; Rosati, P; Santos, J S

2011-01-01

local clusters, the z > 0.9 systems mostly do not harbor central dominant galaxies coincident with the x-ray centroid position, but rather exhibit significant brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) offsets from the x-ray center with a median value of about 50 kpc in projection and a smaller median luminosity gap to the second-ranked galaxy of Δm 12 ≃ 0.3 mag. We estimate a fraction of cluster-associated NVSS 1.4 GHz radio sources of about 30%, preferentially located within 1′ from the x-ray center. This value suggests an increase of the fraction of very luminous cluster-associated radio sources by about a factor of 2.5-5 relative to low-z systems. The galaxy populations in z ≳ 1.5 cluster environments show first evidence for drastic changes on the high-mass end of galaxies and signs of a gradual disappearance of a well-defined cluster red-sequence as strong star formation activity is observed in an increasing fraction of massive galaxies down to the densest core regions. The presented XDCP high-z sample will allow first detailed studies of the cluster population during the critical cosmic epoch at lookback times of 7.3-9.5 Gyr on the aggregation and evolution of baryons in the cold and hot phases as a function of redshift and system mass. (paper)

Statistical properties of Faraday rotation measure in external galaxies - I. Intervening disc galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Basu, Aritra; Mao, S. A.; Fletcher, Andrew; Kanekar, Nissim; Shukurov, Anvar; Schnitzeler, Dominic; Vacca, Valentina; Junklewitz, Henrik

2018-06-01

Deriving the Faraday rotation measure (RM) of quasar absorption line systems, which are tracers of high-redshift galaxies intervening background quasars, is a powerful tool for probing magnetic fields in distant galaxies. Statistically comparing the RM distributions of two quasar samples, with and without absorption line systems, allows one to infer magnetic field properties of the intervening galaxy population. Here, we have derived the analytical form of the probability distribution function (PDF) of RM produced by a single galaxy with an axisymmetric large-scale magnetic field. We then further determine the PDF of RM for one random sight line traversing each galaxy in a population with a large-scale magnetic field prescription. We find that the resulting PDF of RM is dominated by a Lorentzian with a width that is directly related to the mean axisymmetric large-scale field strength of the galaxy population if the dispersion of B0 within the population is smaller than . Provided that RMs produced by the intervening galaxies have been successfully isolated from other RM contributions along the line of sight, our simple model suggests that in galaxies probed by quasar absorption line systems can be measured within ≈50 per cent accuracy without additional constraints on the magneto-ionic medium properties of the galaxies. Finally, we discuss quasar sample selection criteria that are crucial to reliably interpret observations, and argue that within the limitations of the current data base of absorption line systems, high-metallicity damped Lyman-α absorbers are best suited to study galactic dynamo action in distant disc galaxies.

White dwarf-red dwarf binaries in the Galaxy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Besselaar, E.J.M. van den

2007-01-01

This PhD thesis shows several studies on white dwarf - red dwarf binaries. White dwarfs are the end products of most stars and red dwarfs are normal hydrogen burning low-mass stars. White dwarf - red dwarf binaries are both blue (white dwarf) and red (red dwarf). Together with the fact that they are

Alignments of galaxies within cosmic filaments from SDSS DR7

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Youcai; Yang, Xiaohu [Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Nandan Road 80, Shanghai 200030 (China); Wang, Huiyuan [Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China); Wang, Lei [Purple Mountain Observatory, the Partner Group of MPI für Astronomie, 2 West Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008 (China); Mo, H. J. [Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-9305 (United States); Van den Bosch, Frank C., E-mail: yczhang@shao.ac.cn, E-mail: xyang@sjtu.edu.cn [Department of Astronomy, Yale University, P.O. Box 208101, New Haven, CT 06520-8101 (United States)

2013-12-20

Using a sample of galaxy groups selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7, we examine the alignment between the orientation of galaxies and their surrounding large-scale structure in the context of the cosmic web. The latter is quantified using the large-scale tidal field, reconstructed from the data using galaxy groups above a certain mass threshold. We find that the major axes of galaxies in filaments tend to be preferentially aligned with the directions of the filaments, while galaxies in sheets have their major axes preferentially aligned parallel to the plane of the sheets. The strength of this alignment signal is strongest for red, central galaxies, and in good agreement with that of dark matter halos in N-body simulations. This suggests that red, central galaxies are well aligned with their host halos, in quantitative agreement with previous studies based on the spatial distribution of satellite galaxies. There is a luminosity and mass dependence that brighter and more massive galaxies in filaments and sheets have stronger alignment signals. We also find that the orientation of galaxies is aligned with the eigenvector associated with the smallest eigenvalue of the tidal tensor. These observational results indicate that galaxy formation is affected by large-scale environments and strongly suggest that galaxies are aligned with each other over scales comparable to those of sheets and filaments in the cosmic web.

Alignments of galaxies within cosmic filaments from SDSS DR7

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Youcai; Yang, Xiaohu; Wang, Huiyuan; Wang, Lei; Mo, H. J.; Van den Bosch, Frank C.

2013-01-01

Using a sample of galaxy groups selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7, we examine the alignment between the orientation of galaxies and their surrounding large-scale structure in the context of the cosmic web. The latter is quantified using the large-scale tidal field, reconstructed from the data using galaxy groups above a certain mass threshold. We find that the major axes of galaxies in filaments tend to be preferentially aligned with the directions of the filaments, while galaxies in sheets have their major axes preferentially aligned parallel to the plane of the sheets. The strength of this alignment signal is strongest for red, central galaxies, and in good agreement with that of dark matter halos in N-body simulations. This suggests that red, central galaxies are well aligned with their host halos, in quantitative agreement with previous studies based on the spatial distribution of satellite galaxies. There is a luminosity and mass dependence that brighter and more massive galaxies in filaments and sheets have stronger alignment signals. We also find that the orientation of galaxies is aligned with the eigenvector associated with the smallest eigenvalue of the tidal tensor. These observational results indicate that galaxy formation is affected by large-scale environments and strongly suggest that galaxies are aligned with each other over scales comparable to those of sheets and filaments in the cosmic web.

Optical colours of AGN in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South: Obscured black holes in early type galaxies

OpenAIRE

Rovilos, E.; Georgantopoulos, I.

2007-01-01

We investigate the optical colours of X-ray sources from the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (ECDFS) using photometry from the COMBO-17 survey, aiming to explore AGN - galaxy feedback models. The X-ray sources populate both the ``blue'' and the ``red sequence'' on the colour-magnitude diagram. However, sources in the ``red sequence'' appear systematically more obscured. HST imaging from the GEMS survey demonstrates that the nucleus does not affect significantly the observed colours, and the...

Mapping stellar content to dark matter haloes - III. Environmental dependence and conformity of galaxy colours

Science.gov (United States)

Zu, Ying; Mandelbaum, Rachel

2018-05-01

Recent studies suggest that the quenching properties of galaxies are correlated over several megaparsecs. The large-scale `galactic conformity' phenomenon around central galaxies has been regarded as a potential signature of `galaxy assembly bias' or `pre-heating', both of which interpret conformity as a result of direct environmental effects acting on galaxy formation. Building on the iHOD halo quenching framework developed in Zu and Mandelbaum, we discover that our fiducial halo mass quenching model, without any galaxy assembly bias, can successfully explain the overall environmental dependence and the conformity of galaxy colours in Sloan Digital Sky Survey, as measured by the mark correlation functions of galaxy colours and the red galaxy fractions around isolated primaries, respectively. Our fiducial iHOD halo quenching mock also correctly predicts the differences in the spatial clustering and galaxy-galaxy lensing signals between the more versus less red galaxy subsamples, split by the red-sequence ridge line at fixed stellar mass. Meanwhile, models that tie galaxy colours fully or partially to halo assembly bias have difficulties in matching all these observables simultaneously. Therefore, we demonstrate that the observed environmental dependence of galaxy colours can be naturally explained by the combination of (1) halo quenching and (2) the variation of halo mass function with environment - an indirect environmental effect mediated by two separate physical processes.

Polar ring galaxies in the Galaxy Zoo

Science.gov (United States)

Finkelman, Ido; Funes, José G.; Brosch, Noah

2012-05-01

We report observations of 16 candidate polar-ring galaxies (PRGs) identified by the Galaxy Zoo project in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data base. Deep images of five galaxies are available in the SDSS Stripe82 data base, while to reach similar depth we observed the remaining galaxies with the 1.8-m Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope. We derive integrated magnitudes and u-r colours for the host and ring components and show continuum-subtracted Hα+[N II] images for seven objects. We present a basic morphological and environmental analysis of the galaxies and discuss their properties in comparison with other types of early-type galaxies. Follow-up photometric and spectroscopic observations will allow a kinematic confirmation of the nature of these systems and a more detailed analysis of their stellar populations.

CENTRAL DARK MATTER TRENDS IN EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES FROM STRONG LENSING, DYNAMICS, AND STELLAR POPULATIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tortora, C.; Jetzer, P.; Napolitano, N. R.; Romanowsky, A. J.

2010-01-01

We analyze the correlations between central dark matter (DM) content of early-type galaxies and their sizes and ages, using a sample of intermediate-redshift (z ∼ 0.2) gravitational lenses from the SLACS survey, and by comparing them to a larger sample of z ∼ 0 galaxies. We decompose the deprojected galaxy masses into DM and stellar components using combinations of strong lensing, stellar dynamics, and stellar populations modeling. For a given stellar mass, we find that for galaxies with larger sizes, the DM fraction increases and the mean DM density decreases, consistently with the cuspy halos expected in cosmological formation scenarios. The DM fraction also decreases with stellar age, which can be partially explained by the inverse correlation between size and age. The residual trend may point to systematic dependencies on formation epoch of halo contraction or stellar initial mass functions. These results are in agreement with recent findings based on local galaxies by Napolitano et al. and suggest negligible evidence of galaxy evolution over the last ∼2.5 Gyr other than passive stellar aging.

PAHs sensitivity of picophytoplankton populations in the Red Sea

KAUST Repository

Kottuparambil, Sreejith

2018-04-25

In this study, we investigated the in situ responses of Red Sea picophytoplankton, the dominant phytoplankton group in the oligotrophic ocean, to two toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phenanthrene and pyrene. The experiments were conducted across a latitudinal gradient of the Saudi Arabian Red Sea, an area sensitive to oil pollution. We observed significant adverse effects on the growth and abundance of the picocyanobacteria Synechococcus and picoeukaryotes, at all stations sampled. Prochlorococcus, which was abundant only at one of the stations, also appeared to be affected. Pyrene was found to be more toxic to phytoplankton at all stations. In general, picoeukaryotes exhibited higher sensitivity to PAHs than Synechococcus. Populations in the highly oligotrophic Northern region of the Red Sea were more tolerant to PAHs, presumably influenced by the natural selection of more resistant strains of phytoplankton due to the prolonged exposure to PAHs. Toxicity threshold values estimated here are higher than those reported for picophytoplankton from other oligotrophic marine waters and exceed by far the natural levels of PAHs in many oceans. Our findings reveal a possible adaptation of picophytoplankton populations to oil-related contaminants, which may clearly influence their spatial distribution patterns in the Red Sea.

Spatially-resolved star formation histories of CALIFA galaxies. Implications for galaxy formation

Science.gov (United States)

González Delgado, R. M.; Pérez, E.; Cid Fernandes, R.; García-Benito, R.; López Fernández, R.; Vale Asari, N.; Cortijo-Ferrero, C.; de Amorim, A. L.; Lacerda, E. A. D.; Sánchez, S. F.; Lehnert, M. D.; Walcher, C. J.

2017-11-01

This paper presents the spatially resolved star formation history (SFH) of nearby galaxies with the aim of furthering our understanding of the different processes involved in the formation and evolution of galaxies. To this end, we apply the fossil record method of stellar population synthesis to a rich and diverse data set of 436 galaxies observed with integral field spectroscopy in the CALIFA survey. The sample covers a wide range of Hubble types, with stellar masses ranging from M⋆ 109 to 7 × 1011 M⊙. Spectral synthesis techniques are applied to the datacubes to retrieve the spatially resolved time evolution of the star formation rate (SFR), its intensity (ΣSFR), and other descriptors of the 2D SFH in seven bins of galaxy morphology (E, S0, Sa, Sb, Sbc, Sc, and Sd) and five bins of stellar mass. Our main results are that (a) galaxies form very fast independently of their current stellar mass, with the peak of star formation at high redshift (z > 2). Subsequent star formation is driven by M⋆ and morphology, with less massive and later type spirals showing more prolonged periods of star formation. (b) At any epoch in the past, the SFR is proportional to M⋆, with most massive galaxies having the highest absolute (but lowest specific) SFRs. (c) While today, the ΣSFR is similar for all spirals and significantly lower in early-type galaxies (ETG), in the past, the ΣSFR scales well with morphology. The central regions of today's ETGs are where the ΣSFR reached the highest values (> 103 M⊙ Gyr-1 pc-2), similar to those measured in high-redshift star-forming galaxies. (d) The evolution of ΣSFR in Sbc systems matches that of models for Milky Way-like galaxies, suggesting that the formation of a thick disk may be a common phase in spirals at early epochs. (e) The SFR and ΣSFR in outer regions of E and S0 galaxies show that they have undergone an extended phase of growth in mass between z = 2 and 0.4. The mass assembled in this phase is in agreement with

Separating intrinsic alignment and galaxy-galaxy lensing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blazek, Jonathan; Seljak, Uroš; Mandelbaum, Rachel; Nakajima, Reiko

2012-01-01

The coherent physical alignment of galaxies is an important systematic for gravitational lensing studies as well as a probe of the physical mechanisms involved in galaxy formation and evolution. We develop a formalism for treating this intrinsic alignment (IA) in the context of galaxy-galaxy lensing and present an improved method for measuring IA contamination, which can arise when sources physically associated with the lens are placed behind the lens due to photometric redshift scatter. We apply the technique to recent Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) measurements of Luminous Red Galaxy lenses and typical ( ∼ L * ) source galaxies with photometric redshifts selected from the SDSS imaging data. Compared to previous measurements, this method has the advantage of being fully self-consistent in its treatment of the IA and lensing signals, solving for the two simultaneously. We find an IA signal consistent with zero, placing tight constraints on both the magnitude of the IA effect and its potential contamination to the lensing signal. While these constraints depend on source selection and redshift quality, the method can be applied to any measurement that uses photometric redshifts. We obtain a model-independent upper-limit of roughly 10% IA contamination for projected separations of r p ≈ 0.1–10 h −1 Mpc. With more stringent photo-z cuts and reasonable assumptions about the physics of intrinsic alignments, this upper limit is reduced to 1–2%. These limits are well below the statistical error of the current lensing measurements. Our results suggest that IA will not present intractable challenges to the next generation of galaxy-galaxy lensing experiments, and the methods presented here should continue to aid in our understanding of alignment processes and in the removal of IA from the lensing signal

THE ACS NEARBY GALAXY SURVEY TREASURY. IX. CONSTRAINING ASYMPTOTIC GIANT BRANCH EVOLUTION WITH OLD METAL-POOR GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Girardi, Leo; Williams, Benjamin F.; Gilbert, Karoline M.; Rosenfield, Philip; Dalcanton, Julianne J.; Marigo, Paola; Boyer, Martha L.; Dolphin, Andrew; Weisz, Daniel R.; Skillman, Evan; Melbourne, Jason; Olsen, Knut A. G.; Seth, Anil C.

2010-01-01

In an attempt to constrain evolutionary models of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase at the limit of low masses and low metallicities, we have examined the luminosity functions and number ratios between AGB and red giant branch (RGB) stars from a sample of resolved galaxies from the ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury. This database provides Hubble Space Telescope optical photometry together with maps of completeness, photometric errors, and star formation histories for dozens of galaxies within 4 Mpc. We select 12 galaxies characterized by predominantly metal-poor populations as indicated by a very steep and blue RGB, and which do not present any indication of recent star formation in their color-magnitude diagrams. Thousands of AGB stars brighter than the tip of the RGB (TRGB) are present in the sample (between 60 and 400 per galaxy), hence, the Poisson noise has little impact in our measurements of the AGB/RGB ratio. We model the photometric data with a few sets of thermally pulsing AGB (TP-AGB) evolutionary models with different prescriptions for the mass loss. This technique allows us to set stringent constraints on the TP-AGB models of low-mass, metal-poor stars (with M sun , [Fe/H]∼ sun . This is also in good agreement with recent observations of white dwarf masses in the M4 old globular cluster. These constraints can be added to those already derived from Magellanic Cloud star clusters as important mileposts in the arduous process of calibrating AGB evolutionary models.

Diversity and population structure of red rice germplasm in Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Islam, M Z; Khalequzzaman, M; Prince, M F R K; Siddique, M A; Rashid, E S M H; Ahmed, M S U; Pittendrigh, B R; Ali, M P

2018-01-01

While the functionality and healthy food value of red rice have increased its popularity, such that market demand for it is expected to rise, most strains suffer from low grain yield. To perform diversity and population structure analyses of red rice germplasm, therefore, becomes essential for improving yields for commercial production. In this study, fifty red rice germplasm from the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) genebank were characterized both morphologically and genetically using fifty simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Overall, 162 alleles were detected by the markers with the detected allele number varying from two to seven. Additionally, 22 unique alleles were identified for use as a germplasm diagnostic tool. The highest and lowest polymorphic information content (PIC) indices were 0.75 and 0.04 found in markers RM282 and RM304, respectively, and genetic diversity was moderate, varying from 0.05 to 0.78 (average: 0.35). While phylogenetic cluster analysis of the fifteen distance-based agro-morphological traits divided the germplasm into five clusters (I, II, III, IV and V), a similar SSR analysis yielded only three major groups (I, II, and III), and a model-based population structure analysis yielded four (A, B, C and D). Both principal component and neighbors joining tree analysis from the population structure method showed the tested germplasm as highly diverse in structure. Moreover, an analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), as well as a pairwise FST analysis, both indicated significant differentiation (ranging from 0.108 to 0.207) among all pairs of populations, suggesting that all four population structure groups differed significantly. Populations A and D were the most differentiated from each other by FST. Findings from this study suggest that the diverse germplasm and polymorphic trait-linked SSR markers of red rice are suitable for the detection of economically desirable trait loci/genes for use in future molecular breeding programs.

The Star Formation History of read and dead galaxies at z=[1.0--1.5

Science.gov (United States)

Domínguez Sánchez, H.; Pérez González, P.; Esquej, P.; Eliche Moral, C.; Alcalde Pampliega, B.; SHARDS Team

2015-05-01

We analyse the star formation histories (SFH) of M > 10^{10} M_⊙ read and dead galaxies at intermediate redshift (z=1.0-1.5). Current hierarchical models of galaxy formation predict many less massive high-z systems than observed. By combining SHARDS deep spectro-photometric optical data (25 contiguous OSIRIS/GTC medium band filters with R ˜ 50 at 4500-900 nm) with HST-WFC3 grism in the NIR (G141, 1.1-1.6 μm) and broad-band photometry (from FUV to FIR) we construct well-sampled optical SEDs with up to 150 photometric points and sufficient spectral resolution to obtain reliable stellar population parameters such as ages, star formation timescales, dust extinctions and metallicities. We define a complete and uncontaminated sample of red & dead galaxies by combining the color-color UVJ selection with a cut in sSFR (SFR/Mass). We check the robustness of the results depending on different stellar population models (Bruzual & Charlot 2003, Maraston 2005), SED fitting-codes (synthesizer, FAST) or star formation histories (exp{-t/τ}, t exp{-t/τ}). Finally, the dependence of the SFH with the galaxy stellar mass will be studied, to actually measure if more massive galaxies are formed earlier and more rapidly as downsizing suggests.

Statistical properties of Faraday rotation measure in external galaxies - I: intervening disc galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Basu, Aritra; Mao, S. A.; Fletcher, Andrew; Kanekar, Nissim; Shukurov, Anvar; Schnitzeler, Dominic; Vacca, Valentina; Junklewitz, Henrik

2018-03-01

Deriving the Faraday rotation measure (RM) of quasar absorption line systems, which are tracers of high-redshift galaxies intervening background quasars, is a powerful tool for probing magnetic fields in distant galaxies. Statistically comparing the RM distributions of two quasar samples, with and without absorption line systems, allows one to infer magnetic field properties of the intervening galaxy population. Here, we have derived the analytical form of the probability distribution function (PDF) of RM produced by a single galaxy with an axisymmetric large-scale magnetic field. We then further determine the PDF of RM for one random sight line traversing each galaxy in a population with a large-scale magnetic field prescription. We find that the resulting PDF of RM is dominated by a Lorentzian with a width that is directly related to the mean axisymmetric large-scale field strength ⟨B0⟩ of the galaxy population if the dispersion of B0 within the population is smaller than ⟨B0⟩. Provided that RMs produced by the intervening galaxies have been successfully isolated from other RM contributions along the line of sight, our simple model suggests that ⟨B0⟩ in galaxies probed by quasar absorption line systems can be measured within ≈50 per cent accuracy without additional constraints on the magneto-ionic medium properties of the galaxies. Finally, we discuss quasar sample selection criteria that are crucial to reliably interpret observations, and argue that within the limitations of the current database of absorption line systems, high-metallicity damped Lyman-α absorbers are best suited to study galactic dynamo action in distant disc galaxies.

The Cambridge photographic atlas of galaxies

CERN Document Server

König, Michael

2017-01-01

Galaxies - the Milky Way's siblings - offer a surprising variety of forms and colours. Displaying symmetrical spiral arms, glowing red nebulae or diffuse halos, even the image of a galaxy can reveal much about its construction. All galaxies consist of gas, dust and stars, but the effects of gravity, dark matter and the interaction of star formation and stellar explosions all influence their appearances. This volume showcases more than 250 of the most beautiful galaxies within an amateur's reach and uses them to explain current astrophysical research. It features fantastic photographs, unique insights into our knowledge, tips on astrophotography and essential facts and figures based on the latest science. From the Andromeda Galaxy to galaxy clusters and gravitational lenses, the nature of galaxies is revealed through these stunning amateur photographs. This well illustrated reference atlas deserves a place on the bookshelves of astronomical imagers, observers and armchair enthusiasts.

GHASP: an Hα kinematical survey of spiral galaxies - XI. Distribution of luminous and dark matter in spiral and irregular nearby galaxies using WISE photometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Korsaga, M.; Carignan, C.; Amram, P.; Epinat, B.; Jarrett, T. H.

2018-04-01

We present the mass distribution of a sample of 121 nearby galaxies with high quality optical velocity fields and available infra-red WISE 3.4 μm data. Contrary to previous studies, this sample covers all morphological types and is not biased toward late-type galaxies. These galaxies are part of the Fabry-Perot kinematical GHASP survey of spirals and irregular nearby galaxies. Combining the kinematical data to the WISE surface brightness data probing the emission from the old stellar population, we derive mass models allowing us to compare the luminous to the dark matter halo mass distribution in the optical regions of those galaxies. Dark matter (DM) models are constructed using the isothermal core profile and the Navarro-Frenk-White cuspy profile. We allow the M/L of the baryonic disc to vary or we keep it fixed, constrained by stellar evolutionary models (WISE W1-W2 color) and we carry out best fit (BFM) and pseudo-isothermal maximum disc (MDM) models. We found that the MDM provides M/L values four times higher than the BFM, suggesting that disc components, on average, tend to be maximal. The main results are: (i) the rotation curves of most galaxies are better fitted with core rather than cuspy profiles; (ii) the relation between the parameters of the DM and of the luminous matter components mostly depends on morphological types. More precisely, the distribution of the DM inside galaxies depends on whether or not the galaxy has a bulge.

The next generation of galaxy evolution models: A symbiosis of stellar populations and chemical abundances

Science.gov (United States)

Kotulla, Ralf

2012-10-01

Over its lifespan Hubble has invested significant effort into detailed observations of galaxies both in the local and distant universe. To extract the physical information from the observed {spectro-}photometry requires detailed and accurate models. Stellar population synthesis models are frequently used to obtain stellar masses, star formation rate, galaxy ages and star formation histories. Chemical evolution models offer another valuable and complementary approach to gain insight into many of the same aspects, yet these two methods have rarely been used in combination.Our proposed next generation of galaxy evolution models will help us improve our understanding of how galaxies form and evolve. Building on GALEV evolutionary synthesis models we incorporate state-of-the-art input physics for stellar evolution of binaries and rotating stars as well as new spectral libraries well matched to the modern observational capabilities. Our improved chemical evolution model allows us to self-consistently trace abundances of individual elements, fully accounting for the increasing initial abundances of successive stellar generations. GALEV will support variable Initial Mass Functions {IMF}, enabling us to test recent observational findings of a non-universal IMF by predicting chemical properties and integrated spectra in an integrated and consistent manner.HST is the perfect instrument for testing this approach. Its wide wavelength coverage from UV to NIR enables precise SED fitting, and with its spatial resolution we can compare the inferred chemical evolution to studies of star clusters and resolved stellar populations in nearby galaxies.

Spectroscopy of the galaxy components of N and Seyfert galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boroson, T.A.; Oke, J.B.; Palomar Observatory, Pasadena, CA)

1987-01-01

Nuclear and off-nuclear spectra of nine active galaxies are presented. The sample consists of four Seyfert galaxies, two N galaxies, one Seyfert radio galaxy, and one liner/Seyfert 2 galaxy. All of the objects show continuum emission off the nucleus. Four clearly show absorption features from a stellar population. Velocities have been measured for the off-nuclear emission and absorption lines. In the case of I Zw 1, the absorption-line velocities are inconsistent with 21-cm H I measurements of this object. 26 references

The ATLAS3D Project - XXX. Star formation histories and stellar population scaling relations of early-type galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

McDermid, Richard M.; Alatalo, Katherine; Blitz, Leo; Bournaud, Frédéric; Bureau, Martin; Cappellari, Michele; Crocker, Alison F.; Davies, Roger L.; Davis, Timothy A.; de Zeeuw, P. T.; Duc, Pierre-Alain; Emsellem, Eric; Khochfar, Sadegh; Krajnović, Davor; Kuntschner, Harald; Morganti, Raffaella; Naab, Thorsten; Oosterloo, Tom; Sarzi, Marc; Scott, Nicholas; Serra, Paolo; Weijmans, Anne-Marie; Young, Lisa M.

2015-04-01

We present the stellar population content of early-type galaxies from the ATLAS3D survey. Using spectra integrated within apertures covering up to one effective radius, we apply two methods: one based on measuring line-strength indices and applying single stellar population (SSP) models to derive SSP-equivalent values of stellar age, metallicity, and alpha enhancement; and one based on spectral fitting to derive non-parametric star formation histories, mass-weighted average values of age, metallicity, and half-mass formation time-scales. Using homogeneously derived effective radii and dynamically determined galaxy masses, we present the distribution of stellar population parameters on the Mass Plane (MJAM, σe, R^maj_e), showing that at fixed mass, compact early-type galaxies are on average older, more metal-rich, and more alpha-enhanced than their larger counterparts. From non-parametric star formation histories, we find that the duration of star formation is systematically more extended in lower mass objects. Assuming that our sample represents most of the stellar content of today's local Universe, approximately 50 per cent of all stars formed within the first 2 Gyr following the big bang. Most of these stars reside today in the most massive galaxies (>1010.5 M⊙), which themselves formed 90 per cent of their stars by z ˜ 2. The lower mass objects, in contrast, have formed barely half their stars in this time interval. Stellar population properties are independent of environment over two orders of magnitude in local density, varying only with galaxy mass. In the highest density regions of our volume (dominated by the Virgo cluster), galaxies are older, alpha-enhanced, and have shorter star formation histories with respect to lower density regions.

A REVISED PARALLEL-SEQUENCE MORPHOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF GALAXIES: STRUCTURE AND FORMATION OF S0 AND SPHEROIDAL GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kormendy, John; Bender, Ralf

2012-01-01

, particularly ram-pressure stripping of cold gas. We suggest that Sph galaxies are transformed, 'red and dead' Scd-Im galaxies in the same way that many S0 galaxies are transformed, red and dead Sa-Sc spiral galaxies.

A Revised Parallel-sequence Morphological Classification of Galaxies: Structure and Formation of S0 and Spheroidal Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Kormendy, John; Bender, Ralf

2012-01-01

, particularly ram-pressure stripping of cold gas. We suggest that Sph galaxies are transformed, "red and dead" Scd-Im galaxies in the same way that many S0 galaxies are transformed, red and dead Sa-Sc spiral galaxies.

The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Gravitational Potential and Surface Density Drive Stellar Populations. I. Early-type Galaxies

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Barone, Tania M.; D’Eugenio, Francesco; Colless, Matthew; Scott, Nicholas; van de Sande, Jesse; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss; Brough, Sarah; Bryant, Julia J.; Cortese, Luca; Croom, Scott M.; Foster, Caroline; Goodwin, Michael; Konstantopoulos, Iraklis S.; Lawrence, Jon S.; Lorente, Nuria P. F.; Medling, Anne M.; Owers, Matt S.; Richards, Samuel N.

2018-03-01

The well-established correlations between the mass of a galaxy and the properties of its stars are considered to be evidence for mass driving the evolution of the stellar population (SP). However, for early-type galaxies (ETGs), we find that g ‑ i color and stellar metallicity [Z/H] correlate more strongly with gravitational potential Φ than with mass M, whereas SP age correlates best with surface density Σ. Specifically, for our sample of 625 ETGs with integral-field spectroscopy from the Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral-field Galaxy Survey, compared to correlations with mass, the color–Φ, [Z/H]–Φ, and age–Σ relations show both a smaller scatter and a lower residual trend with galaxy size. For the star formation duration proxy [α/Fe], we find comparable results for trends with Φ and Σ, with both being significantly stronger than the [α/Fe]–M relation. In determining the strength of a trend, we analyze both the overall scatter, and the observational uncertainty on the parameters, in order to compare the intrinsic scatter in each correlation. These results lead us to the following inferences and interpretations: (1) the color–Φ diagram is a more precise tool for determining the developmental stage of the SP than the conventional color–mass diagram; and (2) gravitational potential is the primary regulator of global stellar metallicity, via its relation to the gas escape velocity. Furthermore, we propose the following two mechanisms for the age and [α/Fe] relations with Σ: (a) the age–Σ and [α/Fe]–Σ correlations arise as results of compactness-driven quenching mechanisms; and/or (b) as fossil records of the {{{Σ }}}SFR}\\propto {{{Σ }}}gas} relation in their disk-dominated progenitors.

The Splashback Feature around DES Galaxy Clusters: Galaxy Density and Weak Lensing Profiles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chang, Chihway; et al.

2017-10-18

Splashback refers to the process of matter that is accreting onto a dark matter halo reaching its first orbital apocenter and turning around in its orbit. The cluster-centric radius at which this process occurs, r_sp, defines a halo boundary that is connected to the dynamics of the cluster, in contrast with other common halo boundary definitions such as R_200. A rapid decline in the matter density profile of the halo is expected near r_sp. We measure the galaxy number density and weak lensing mass profiles around RedMapper galaxy clusters in the first year Dark Energy Survey (DES) data. For a cluster sample with mean mass ~2.5 x 10^14 solar masses, we find strong evidence of a splashback-like steepening of the galaxy density profile and measure r_sp=1.16 +/- 0.08 Mpc/h, consistent with earlier SDSS measurements of More et al. (2016) and Baxter et al. (2017). Moreover, our weak lensing measurement demonstrates for the first time the existence of a splashback-like steepening of the matter profile of galaxy clusters. We measure r_sp=1.28 +/- 0.18 Mpc/h from the weak lensing data, in good agreement with our galaxy density measurements. Applying our analysis to different cluster and galaxy samples, we find that consistent with LambdaCDM simulations, r_sp scales with R_200m and does not evolve with redshift over the redshift range of 0.3--0.6. We also find that potential systematic effects associated with the RedMapper algorithm may impact the location of r_sp, in particular the choice of scale used to estimate cluster richness. We discuss progress needed to understand the systematic uncertainties and fully exploit forthcoming data from DES and future surveys, emphasizing the importance of more realistic mock catalogs and independent cluster samples.

The PyCASSO database: spatially resolved stellar population properties for CALIFA galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

de Amorim, A. L.; García-Benito, R.; Cid Fernandes, R.; Cortijo-Ferrero, C.; González Delgado, R. M.; Lacerda, E. A. D.; López Fernández, R.; Pérez, E.; Vale Asari, N.

2017-11-01

The Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey, a pioneer in integral field spectroscopy legacy projects, has fostered many studies exploring the information encoded on the spatially resolved data on gaseous and stellar features in the optical range of galaxies. We describe a value-added catalogue of stellar population properties for CALIFA galaxies analysed with the spectral synthesis code starlight and processed with the pycasso platform. Our public database (http://pycasso.ufsc.br/, mirror at http://pycasso.iaa.es/) comprises 445 galaxies from the CALIFA Data Release 3 with COMBO data. The catalogue provides maps for the stellar mass surface density, mean stellar ages and metallicities, stellar dust attenuation, star formation rates, and kinematics. Example applications both for individual galaxies and for statistical studies are presented to illustrate the power of this data set. We revisit and update a few of our own results on mass density radial profiles and on the local mass-metallicity relation. We also show how to employ the catalogue for new investigations, and show a pseudo Schmidt-Kennicutt relation entirely made with information extracted from the stellar continuum. Combinations to other databases are also illustrated. Among other results, we find a very good agreement between star formation rate surface densities derived from the stellar continuum and the H α emission. This public catalogue joins the scientific community's effort towards transparency and reproducibility, and will be useful for researchers focusing on (or complementing their studies with) stellar properties of CALIFA galaxies.

What kind of galaxies dominate the cosmic SFR density at z~2?

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Perez-Gonzalez, P. G.; Rieke, George; Gonzalez, Anthony; Gallego, Jesus; Guzman, Rafael; Pello, Roser; Egami, Eiichi; Marcillac, D.; Pascual, S.

2006-08-01

We propose to obtain near-infrared (JHK-bands) spectroscopy with GEM-S+GNIRS for a sample of 12 galaxies representative of the 3 types of spitzer/MIPS 24 micron detections at 2.0≲z≲2.6: power-law galaxies, star-forming galaxies with prominent 1.6 micron bumps, and Distant Red Galaxies. These sources are located in the Chandra Deep Field South, a unique field for the study of galaxy evolution, given the top quality data available at all wavelengths. Our main goal is to characterize the mid-IR selected galaxy population at this epoch by measuring H(alpha), H(beta), [NII], and [OIII] fluxes and profiles, and combining these observations with the already merged x-ray, ultraviolet, optical, near- and mid-infrared imaging data, to obtain the most reliable estimations of the SFRs, metallicities, stellar and dynamical masses, AGN activity, and extinction properties of the luminous infrared galaxies detected by MIPS, which dominate the SFR density of the Universe at z≳2. Our targets are complementary to others selected in the rest-frame UV/optical at high-z, and they extend the H(alpha) observations of galaxies selected with ISO from z~1 to z~2.6. The work proposed here will help to interpret the results obtained by the spitzer surveys at z≳2, thus substantially improving our understanding of the formation of massive galaxies and their connection to AGN.

Distribution Of Maximal Luminosity Of Galaxies In The Sloan Digital Sky Survey

CERN Document Server

Regós, E; Rácz, Z; Taghizadeh, M; Ozogany, K

2010-01-01

Extreme value statistics (EVS) is applied to the pixelized distribution of galaxy luminosities in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We analyze the DR6 Main Galaxy Sample (MGS), divided into red and blue subsamples, as well as the Luminous Red Galaxy Sample (LRGS). A non-parametric comparison of the EVS of the luminosities with the Fisher-Tippett-Gumbel distribution (limit distribution for independent variables distributed by the Press-Schechter law) indicates a good agreement provided uncertainties arising both from the finite size of the samples and from the sample size distribution are accounted for.

STELLAR POPULATIONS IN COMPACT GALAXY GROUPS: A MULTI-WAVELENGTH STUDY OF HCGs 16, 22, AND 42, THEIR STAR CLUSTERS, AND DWARF GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Konstantopoulos, I. S.; Maybhate, A.; Charlton, J. C.; Gronwall, C.; Fedotov, K.; Desjardins, T. D.; Gallagher, S. C.; Durrell, P. R.; Mulchaey, J. S.; English, J.; Walker, L. M.; Johnson, K. E.; Tzanavaris, P.

2013-01-01

We present a multi-wavelength analysis of three compact galaxy groups, Hickson compact groups (HCGs) 16, 22, and 42, which describe a sequence in terms of gas richness, from space- (Swift, Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and Spitzer) and ground-based (Las Campanas Observatory and Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory) imaging and spectroscopy. We study various signs of past interactions including a faint, dusty tidal feature about HCG 16A, which we tentatively age-date at <1 Gyr. This represents the possible detection of a tidal feature at the end of its phase of optical observability. Our HST images also resolve what were thought to be double nuclei in HCG 16C and D into multiple, distinct sources, likely to be star clusters. Beyond our phenomenological treatment, we focus primarily on contrasting the stellar populations across these three groups. The star clusters show a remarkable intermediate-age population in HCG 22, and identify the time at which star formation was quenched in HCG 42. We also search for dwarf galaxies at accordant redshifts. The inclusion of 33 members and 27 ''associates'' (possible members) radically changes group dynamical masses, which in turn may affect previous evolutionary classifications. The extended membership paints a picture of relative isolation in HCGs 16 and 22, but shows HCG 42 to be part of a larger structure, following a dichotomy expected from recent studies. We conclude that (1) star cluster populations provide an excellent metric of evolutionary state, as they can age-date the past epochs of star formation; and (2) the extended dwarf galaxy population must be considered in assessing the dynamical state of a compact group.

PAHs sensitivity of picophytoplankton populations in the Red Sea.

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Kottuparambil, Sreejith; Agusti, Susana

2018-04-25

In this study, we investigated the in situ responses of Red Sea picophytoplankton, the dominant phytoplankton group in the oligotrophic ocean, to two toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phenanthrene and pyrene. The experiments were conducted across a latitudinal gradient of the Saudi Arabian Red Sea, an area sensitive to oil pollution. We observed significant adverse effects on the growth and abundance of the picocyanobacteria Synechococcus and picoeukaryotes, at all stations sampled. Prochlorococcus, which was abundant only at one of the stations, also appeared to be affected. Pyrene was found to be more toxic to phytoplankton at all stations. In general, picoeukaryotes exhibited higher sensitivity to PAHs than Synechococcus. Populations in the highly oligotrophic Northern region of the Red Sea were more tolerant to PAHs, presumably influenced by the natural selection of more resistant strains of phytoplankton due to the prolonged exposure to PAHs. Toxicity threshold values estimated here are higher than those reported for picophytoplankton from other oligotrophic marine waters and exceed by far the natural levels of PAHs in many oceans. Our findings reveal a possible adaptation of picophytoplankton populations to oil-related contaminants, which may clearly influence their spatial distribution patterns in the Red Sea. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spectral energy distributions for galaxies in high-redshift clusters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ellis, R.S.; Couch, W.J.; MacLaren, Iain

1985-01-01

The distant cluster 0016+16 (z=0.54) has been imaged through six intermediate-bandwidth filters ranging in wavelength from 418 to 862 nm, maintaining a photometric precision of 10 per cent to a limiting magnitude of F=22. It is found that the field-subtracted colour distributions are not compatible with a single uniformly red population of early-type members at z=0.54. A significant intermediate colour component identified with a spectroscopic object at z=0.30 is also present, thus reducing the possibility that the z=0.54 cluster exhibits an excess of blue galaxies. It is demonstrated how the six-colour data can be used to individually classify the galaxies by type and approximate redshift so that it is possible to identify which objects are members of the z=0.54 cluster. (author)

Ages of Massive Galaxies at 0.5 > z > 2.0 from 3D-HST Rest-frame Optical Spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Fumagalli, Mattia; Franx, Marijn; van Dokkum, Pieter; Whitaker, Katherine E.; Skelton, Rosalind E.; Brammer, Gabriel; Nelson, Erica; Maseda, Michael; Momcheva, Ivelina; Kriek, Mariska; Labbé, Ivo; Lundgren, Britt; Rix, Hans-Walter

2016-05-01

We present low-resolution near-infrared stacked spectra from the 3D-HST survey up to z = 2.0 and fit them with commonly used stellar population synthesis models: BC03, FSPS10 (Flexible Stellar Population Synthesis), and FSPS-C3K. The accuracy of the grism redshifts allows the unambiguous detection of many emission and absorption features and thus a first systematic exploration of the rest-frame optical spectra of galaxies up to z = 2. We select massive galaxies ({log}({M}*/{M}⊙ )\\gt 10.8), we divide them into quiescent and star-forming via a rest-frame color-color technique, and we median-stack the samples in three redshift bins between z = 0.5 and z = 2.0. We find that stellar population models fit the observations well at wavelengths below the 6500 Å rest frame, but show systematic residuals at redder wavelengths. The FSPS-C3K model generally provides the best fits (evaluated with χ 2 red statistics) for quiescent galaxies, while BC03 performs the best for star-forming galaxies. The stellar ages of quiescent galaxies implied by the models, assuming solar metallicity, vary from 4 Gyr at z ˜ 0.75 to 1.5 Gyr at z ˜ 1.75, with an uncertainty of a factor of two caused by the unknown metallicity. On average, the stellar ages are half the age of the universe at these redshifts. We show that the inferred evolution of ages of quiescent galaxies is in agreement with fundamental plane measurements, assuming an 8 Gyr age for local galaxies. For star-forming galaxies, the inferred ages depend strongly on the stellar population model and the shape of the assumed star-formation history.

STELLAR POPULATIONS AND RADIAL MIGRATIONS IN VIRGO DISK GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roediger, Joel C.; Courteau, Stéphane; Sánchez-Blázquez, Patricia; McDonald, Michael

2012-01-01

We present new stellar age profiles, derived from well-resolved optical and near-infrared images of 64 Virgo cluster disk galaxies, whose analysis poses a challenge for current disk galaxy formation models. Our ability to break the age-metallicity degeneracy and the significant size of our sample represent key improvements over complementary studies of field disk galaxies. Our results can be summarized as follows: first, and contrary to observations of disk galaxies in the field, these cluster galaxies are distributed almost equally amongst the three main types of disk galaxy luminosity profiles (I/II/III), indicating that the formation and/or survival of Type II breaks is suppressed within the cluster environment. Second, we find examples of statistically significant inversions ( U -shapes ) in the age profiles of all three disk galaxy types, reminiscent of predictions from high-resolution simulations of classically truncated Type II disks in the field. These features characterize the age profiles for only about a third (≤36%) of each disk galaxy type in our sample. An even smaller fraction of cluster disks (∼11% of the total sample) exhibit age profiles that decrease outward (i.e., negative age gradients). Instead, flat and/or positive age gradients prevail (≥50%) within our Type I, II, and III subsamples. These observations thus suggest that while stellar migrations and inside-out growth can play a significant role in the evolution of all disk galaxy types, other factors contributing to the evolution of galaxies can overwhelm the predicted signatures of these processes. We interpret our observations through a scenario whereby Virgo cluster disk galaxies formed initially like their brethren in the field but which, upon falling into the cluster, were transformed into their present state through external processes linked to the environment (e.g., ram-pressure stripping and harassment). Current disk galaxy formation models, which have largely focused on field

Dispersal patterns of red foxes relative to population density

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Allen, Stephen H.; Sargeant, Alan B.

1993-01-01

Factors affecting red fox (Vulpes vulpes) dispersal patterns are poorly understood but warranted investigation because of the role of dispersal in rebuilding depleted populations and transmission of diseases. We examined dispersal patterns of red foxes in North Dakota based on recoveries of 363 of 854 foxes tagged as pups and relative to fox density. Foxes were recovered up to 8.6 years after tagging; 79% were trapped or shot. Straight-line distances between tagging and recovery locations ranged from 0 to 302 km. Mean recovery distances increased with age and were greater for males than females, but longest individual recovery distances were by females. Dispersal distances were not related to population density for males (P = 0.36) or females (P = 0.96). The proportion of males recovered that dispersed was inversely related to population density (r = -0.94; n = 5; P = 0.02), but not the proportion of females (r = -0.49; n = 5; P = 0.40). Dispersal directions were not uniform for either males (P = 0.003) or females (P = 0.006); littermates tended to disperse in similar directions (P = 0.09). A 4-lane interstate highway altered dispersal directions (P = 0.001). Dispersal is a strong innate behavior of red foxes (especially males) that results in many individuals of both sexes traveling far from natal areas. Because dispersal distance was unaffected by fox density, populations can be rebuilt and diseases transmitted long distances regardless of fox abundance.

Populating dark matter haloes with galaxies: comparing the 2dFGRS with mock galaxy redshift surveys

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Yang, Xiaohu; Mo, H. J.; Jing, Y. P.; van den Bosch, Frank C.; Chu, YaoQuan

2004-06-01

In two recent papers, we developed a powerful technique to link the distribution of galaxies to that of dark matter haloes by considering halo occupation numbers as a function of galaxy luminosity and type. In this paper we use these distribution functions to populate dark matter haloes in high-resolution N-body simulations of the standard ΛCDM cosmology with Ωm= 0.3, ΩΛ= 0.7 and σ8= 0.9. Stacking simulation boxes of 100 h-1 Mpc and 300 h-1 Mpc with 5123 particles each we construct mock galaxy redshift surveys out to a redshift of z= 0.2 with a numerical resolution that guarantees completeness down to 0.01L*. We use these mock surveys to investigate various clustering statistics. The predicted two-dimensional correlation function ξ(rp, π) reveals clear signatures of redshift space distortions. The projected correlation functions for galaxies with different luminosities and types, derived from ξ(rp, π), match the observations well on scales larger than ~3 h-1 Mpc. On smaller scales, however, the model overpredicts the clustering power by about a factor two. Modelling the `finger-of-God' effect on small scales reveals that the standard ΛCDM model predicts pairwise velocity dispersions (PVD) that are ~400 km s-1 too high at projected pair separations of ~1 h-1 Mpc. A strong velocity bias in massive haloes, with bvel≡σgal/σdm~ 0.6 (where σgal and σdm are the velocity dispersions of galaxies and dark matter particles, respectively) can reduce the predicted PVD to the observed level, but does not help to resolve the overprediction of clustering power on small scales. Consistent results can be obtained within the standard ΛCDM model only when the average mass-to-light ratio of clusters is of the order of 1000 (M/L)solar in the B-band. Alternatively, as we show by a simple approximation, a ΛCDM model with σ8~= 0.75 may also reproduce the observational results. We discuss our results in light of the recent WMAP results and the constraints on σ8 obtained

THE CONTRIBUTION OF TP-AGB AND RHeB STARS TO THE NEAR-IR LUMINOSITY OF LOCAL GALAXIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR STELLAR MASS MEASUREMENTS OF HIGH-REDSHIFT GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Melbourne, J.; Williams, Benjamin F.; Dalcanton, Julianne J.; Rosenfield, Philip; Weisz, D.

2012-01-01

Using high spatial resolution Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys imaging of resolved stellar populations, we constrain the contribution of thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) stars and red helium burning (RHeB) stars to the 1.6 μm near-infrared (NIR) luminosities of 23 nearby galaxies, including dwarfs and spirals. The TP-AGB phase contributes as much as 17% of the integrated F160W flux, even when the red giant branch is well populated. The RHeB population contribution can match or even exceed the TP-AGB contribution, providing as much as 21% (18% after a statistical correction for foreground) of the integrated F160W light. We estimate that these two short-lived phases may account for up to 70% of the rest-frame NIR flux at higher redshift. The NIR mass-to-light (M/L) ratio should therefore be expected to vary significantly due to fluctuations in the star formation rate (SFR) over timescales from 25 Myr to several Gyr, an effect that may be responsible for some of the lingering scatter in NIR galaxy scaling relations such as the Tully-Fisher and metallicity-luminosity relations. We compare our observational results to predictions based on optically derived star formation histories and stellar population synthesis (SPS) models, including models based on the 2008 Padova isochrones (used in popular SPS programs) and the updated 2010 Padova isochrones, which shorten the lifetimes of low-mass (old) low-metallicity TP-AGB populations. The updated (2010) SPS models generally reproduce the expected numbers of TP-AGB stars in the sample; indeed, for 65% of the galaxies, the discrepancy between modeled and observed numbers is smaller than the measurement uncertainties. The weighted mean model/data number ratio for TP-AGB stars is 1.5 (1.4 with outliers removed) with a standard deviation of 0.5. The same SPS models, however, give a larger discrepancy in the F160W flux contribution from the TP-AGB stars, overpredicting the flux by a

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): The mechanisms for quiescent galaxy formation at z < 1

Science.gov (United States)

Rowlands, K.; Wild, V.; Bourne, N.; Bremer, M.; Brough, S.; Driver, S. P.; Hopkins, A. M.; Owers, M. S.; Phillipps, S.; Pimbblet, K.; Sansom, A. E.; Wang, L.; Alpaslan, M.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Colless, M.; Holwerda, B. W.; Taylor, E. N.

2018-01-01

One key problem in astrophysics is understanding how and why galaxies switch off their star formation, building the quiescent population that we observe in the local Universe. From the Galaxy And Mass Assembly and VIsible MultiObject Spectrograph Public Extragalactic Redshift surveys, we use spectroscopic indices to select quiescent and candidate transition galaxies. We identify potentially rapidly transitioning post-starburst (PSB) galaxies and slower transitioning green-valley galaxies. Over the last 8 Gyr, the quiescent population has grown more slowly in number density at high masses ({M}_\\ast >10^{11}{M_{⊙}) than at intermediate masses ({M}_\\ast >10^{10.6}{M_{⊙}). There is evolution in both the PSB and green-valley stellar mass functions, consistent with higher mass galaxies quenching at earlier cosmic times. At intermediate masses ({M}_\\ast >10^{10.6}{M_{⊙}), we find a green-valley transition time-scale of 2.6 Gyr. Alternatively, at z ∼ 0.7, the entire growth rate could be explained by fast-quenching PSB galaxies, with a visibility time-scale of 0.5 Gyr. At lower redshift, the number density of PSBs is so low that an unphysically short visibility window would be required for them to contribute significantly to the quiescent population growth. The importance of the fast-quenching route may rapidly diminish at z 10^{11}{M_{⊙}), there is tension between the large number of candidate transition galaxies compared to the slow growth of the quiescent population. This could be resolved if not all high-mass PSB and green-valley galaxies are transitioning from star forming to quiescent, for example if they rejuvenate out of the quiescent population following the accretion of gas and triggering of star formation, or if they fail to completely quench their star formation.

Chemical evolution of galaxies

CERN Document Server

Matteucci, Francesca

2012-01-01

The term “chemical evolution of galaxies” refers to the evolution of abundances of chemical species in galaxies, which is due to nuclear processes occurring in stars and to gas flows into and out of galaxies. This book deals with the chemical evolution of galaxies of all morphological types (ellipticals, spirals and irregulars) and stresses the importance of the star formation histories in determining the properties of stellar populations in different galaxies. The topic is approached in a didactical and logical manner via galaxy evolution models which are compared with observational results obtained in the last two decades: The reader is given an introduction to the concept of chemical abundances and learns about the main stellar populations in our Galaxy as well as about the classification of galaxy types and their main observables. In the core of the book, the construction and solution of chemical evolution models are discussed in detail, followed by descriptions and interpretations of observations of ...

SDSS-IV MaNGA: global stellar population and gradients for about 2000 early-type and spiral galaxies on the mass-size plane

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hongyu; Mao, Shude; Cappellari, Michele; Ge, Junqiang; Long, R. J.; Li, Ran; Mo, H. J.; Li, Cheng; Zheng, Zheng; Bundy, Kevin; Thomas, Daniel; Brownstein, Joel R.; Roman Lopes, Alexandre; Law, David R.; Drory, Niv

2018-05-01

We perform full spectrum fitting stellar population analysis and Jeans Anisotropic modelling of the stellar kinematics for about 2000 early-type galaxies (ETGs) and spiral galaxies from the MaNGA DR14 sample. Galaxies with different morphologies are found to be located on a remarkably tight mass plane which is close to the prediction of the virial theorem, extending previous results for ETGs. By examining an inclined projection (`the mass-size' plane), we find that spiral and early-type galaxies occupy different regions on the plane, and their stellar population properties (i.e. age, metallicity, and stellar mass-to-light ratio) vary systematically along roughly the direction of velocity dispersion, which is a proxy for the bulge fraction. Galaxies with higher velocity dispersions have typically older ages, larger stellar mass-to-light ratios and are more metal rich, which indicates that galaxies increase their bulge fractions as their stellar populations age and become enriched chemically. The age and stellar mass-to-light ratio gradients for low-mass galaxies in our sample tend to be positive (centre Spiral galaxies with large mass and size have the steepest gradients, while the most massive ETGs, especially above the critical mass Mcrit ≳ 2 × 1011 M⊙, where slow rotator ETGs start dominating, have much flatter gradients. This may be due to differences in their evolution histories, e.g. mergers.

THE SLOW DEATH (OR REBIRTH?) OF EXTENDED STAR FORMATION IN z ∼ 0.1 GREEN VALLEY EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fang, Jerome J.; Faber, S. M.; Salim, Samir; Graves, Genevieve J.; Rich, R. Michael

2012-01-01

UV observations in the local universe have uncovered a population of early-type galaxies with UV flux consistent with low-level recent or ongoing star formation. Understanding the origin of such star formation remains an open issue. We present resolved UV-optical photometry of a sample of 19 Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) early-type galaxies at z ∼ 0.1 drawn from the sample originally selected by Salim and Rich to lie in the bluer part of the green valley in the UV-optical color-magnitude diagram as measured by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). Utilizing high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope (HST) far-UV imaging provides unique insight into the distribution of UV light in these galaxies, which we call ''extended star-forming early-type galaxies'' (ESF-ETGs) because of extended UV emission that is indicative of recent star formation. The UV-optical color profiles of all ESF-ETGs show red centers and blue outer parts. Their outer colors require the existence of a significant underlying population of older stars in the UV-bright regions. An analysis of stacked SDSS spectra reveals weak LINER-like emission in their centers. Using a cross-matched SDSS DR7/GALEX GR6 catalog, we search for other green valley galaxies with similar properties to these ESF-ETGs and estimate that ≈13% of dust-corrected green valley galaxies of similar stellar mass and UV-optical color are likely ESF-candidates, i.e., ESF-ETGs are not rare. Our results are consistent with star formation that is gradually declining in existing disks, i.e., the ESF-ETGs are evolving onto the red sequence for the first time, or with rejuvenated star formation due to accreted gas in older disks provided that the gas does not disrupt the structure of the galaxy and the resulting star formation is not too recent and bursty. ESF-ETGs may typify an important subpopulation of galaxies that can linger in the green valley for up to several Gyrs, based on their resemblance to nearby gas-rich green valley

A MATURE DUSTY STAR-FORMING GALAXY HOSTING GRB 080607 AT z = 3.036

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Hsiao-Wen; Perley, Daniel A.; Cenko, S. Bradley; Bloom, Joshua S.; Wilson, Christine D.; Levan, Andrew J.; Prochaska, Jason X.; Tanvir, Nial R.; Dessauges-Zavadsky, Miroslava; Pettini, Max

2010-01-01

We report the discovery of the host galaxy of Swift dark burst GRB 080607 at z GRB = 3.036. GRB 080607 is a unique case of a highly extinguished (A V ∼ 3 mag) afterglow that was yet sufficiently bright for high-quality absorption-line spectroscopy. The host galaxy is clearly resolved in deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WF3/IR F160W images and well detected in the Spitzer IRAC 3.5 μm and 4.5 μm channels, while displaying little/no fluxes in deep optical images from Keck and Magellan. The extremely red optical-infrared colors are consistent with the large extinction seen in the afterglow light, suggesting that the large amount of dust and gas surface mass density seen along the afterglow sight line is not merely local but likely reflects the global dust content across the entire host galaxy. Adopting the dust properties and metallicity of the host interstellar medium derived from studies of early-time afterglow light and absorption-line spectroscopy, we perform a stellar population synthesis analysis of the observed spectral energy distribution to constrain the intrinsic luminosity and stellar population of this dark burst host. The host galaxy is best described by an exponentially declining star formation rate of e-folding time τ = 2 Gyr and an age of ∼2 Gyr. We also derive an extinction-corrected star formation rate of SFR ∼ 125 h -2 M sun yr -1 and a total stellar mass of M * ∼ 4 x 10 11 h -2 M sun . Our study provides an example of massive, dusty star-forming galaxies contributing to the γ-ray burst (GRB) host galaxy population, supporting the notion that long-duration GRBs trace the bulk of cosmic star formation.

A multi-wavelength study of the evolution of early-type galaxies in groups: the ultraviolet view

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Rampazzo, R.; Mazzei, P.; Marino, A.; Bianchi, L.; Plana, H.; Trinchieri, G.; Uslenghi, M.; Wolter, A.

2018-04-01

The ultraviolet-optical colour magnitude diagram of rich galaxy groups is characterised by a well developed Red Sequence, a Blue Cloud and the so-called Green Valley. Loose, less evolved groups of galaxies which are probably not virialised yet may lack a well defined Red Sequence. This is actually explained in the framework of galaxy evolution. We are focussing on understanding galaxy migration towards the Red Sequence, checking for signatures of such a transition in their photometric and morphological properties. We report on the ultraviolet properties of a sample of early-type (ellipticals+S0s) galaxies inhabiting the Red Sequence. The analysis of their structures, as derived by fitting a Sérsic law to their ultraviolet luminosity profiles, suggests the presence of an underlying disk. This is the hallmark of dissipation processes that still must have a role to play in the evolution of this class of galaxies. Smooth particle hydrodynamic simulations with chemo-photometric implementations able to match the global properties of our targets are used to derive their evolutionary paths through ultraviolet-optical colour magnitude diagrams, providing some fundamental information such as the crossing time through the Green Valley, which depends on their luminosity. The transition from the Blue Cloud to the Red Sequence takes several Gyrs, being about 3-5 Gyr for the brightest galaxies and longer for fainter ones, if occurring. The photometric study of nearby galaxy structures in the ultraviolet is seriously hampered by either the limited field of view of the cameras (e.g., in Hubble Space Telescope) or by the low spatial resolution of the images (e.g., in the Galaxy Evolution Explorer). Current missions equipped with telescopes and cameras sensitive to ultraviolet wavelengths, such as Swift- UVOT and Astrosat-UVIT, provide a relatively large field of view and a better resolution than the Galaxy Evolution Explorer. More powerful ultraviolet instruments (size, resolution

Globular Clusters Shine in a Galaxy Lacking Dark Matter

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Kohler, Susanna

2018-04-01

You may have seen recent news about NGC 1052DF2, a galaxy that was discovered to have little or no dark matter. Now, a new study explores what NGC 1052DF2 does have: an enigmatic population of unusually large and luminous globular clusters.Keck/LRIS spectra (left and right) and HST images (center) of the 11 clusters associated with NGC 1052DF2. The color images each span 1 1. [van Dokkum et al. 2018]An Unusual DwarfThe ultra-diffuse galaxy NGC 1052DF2, originally identified with the Dragonfly Telescope Array, has puzzled astronomers since the discovery that its dynamical mass determined by the motions of globular-cluster-like objects spotted within it is essentially the same as its stellar mass. This equivalence implies that the galaxy is strangely lacking dark matter; the upper limit set on its dark matter halo is 400 times smaller than what we would expect for such a dwarf galaxy.Led by Pieter van Dokkum (Yale University), the team that made this discovery has now followed up with detailed Hubble Space Telescope imaging and Keck spectroscopy. Their goal? To explore the objects that allowed them to make the dynamical-mass measurement: the oddly bright globular clusters of NGC 1052DF2.Sizes (circularized half-light radii) vs. absolute magnitudes for globular clusters in NGC1052DF2 (black) and the Milky Way (red). [Adapted from van Dokkum et al. 2018]Whats Up with the Globular Clusters?Van Dokkum and collaborators spectroscopically confirmed 11 compact objects associated with the faint galaxy. These objects are globular-cluster-like in their appearance, but the peak of their luminosity distribution is offset by a factor of four from globular clusters of other galaxies; these globular clusters are significantly brighter than is typical.Using the Hubble imaging, the authors determined that NGC 1052DF2s globular clusters are more than twice the size of the Milky Ways globular clusters in the same luminosity range. As is typical for globular clusters, they are an old

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Detection or Sunyaev-Zel'Dovich Decrement in Groups and Clusters Associated with Luminous Red Galaxies

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Hand, Nick; Appel, John William; Battaglia, Nick; Bond, J. Richard; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.; Dunkley, Joanna; Dunner, Rolando; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Fowler, Joseph W.;

Diversity and population structure of red rice germplasm in Bangladesh.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Z Islam

Full Text Available While the functionality and healthy food value of red rice have increased its popularity, such that market demand for it is expected to rise, most strains suffer from low grain yield. To perform diversity and population structure analyses of red rice germplasm, therefore, becomes essential for improving yields for commercial production. In this study, fifty red rice germplasm from the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI genebank were characterized both morphologically and genetically using fifty simple sequence repeat (SSR markers. Overall, 162 alleles were detected by the markers with the detected allele number varying from two to seven. Additionally, 22 unique alleles were identified for use as a germplasm diagnostic tool. The highest and lowest polymorphic information content (PIC indices were 0.75 and 0.04 found in markers RM282 and RM304, respectively, and genetic diversity was moderate, varying from 0.05 to 0.78 (average: 0.35. While phylogenetic cluster analysis of the fifteen distance-based agro-morphological traits divided the germplasm into five clusters (I, II, III, IV and V, a similar SSR analysis yielded only three major groups (I, II, and III, and a model-based population structure analysis yielded four (A, B, C and D. Both principal component and neighbors joining tree analysis from the population structure method showed the tested germplasm as highly diverse in structure. Moreover, an analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA, as well as a pairwise FST analysis, both indicated significant differentiation (ranging from 0.108 to 0.207 among all pairs of populations, suggesting that all four population structure groups differed significantly. Populations A and D were the most differentiated from each other by FST. Findings from this study suggest that the diverse germplasm and polymorphic trait-linked SSR markers of red rice are suitable for the detection of economically desirable trait loci/genes for use in future molecular

A PARAMETERIZED GALAXY CATALOG SIMULATOR FOR TESTING CLUSTER FINDING, MASS ESTIMATION, AND PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFT ESTIMATION IN OPTICAL AND NEAR-INFRARED SURVEYS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Jeeseon; Mohr, Joseph J.; Barkhouse, Wayne A.; Rude, Cody; Warren, Michael S.; Dolag, Klaus

2012-01-01

We present a galaxy catalog simulator that converts N-body simulations with halo and subhalo catalogs into mock, multiband photometric catalogs. The simulator assigns galaxy properties to each subhalo in a way that reproduces the observed cluster galaxy halo occupation distribution, the radial and mass-dependent variation in fractions of blue galaxies, the luminosity functions in the cluster and the field, and the color-magnitude relation in clusters. Moreover, the evolution of these parameters is tuned to match existing observational constraints. Parameterizing an ensemble of cluster galaxy properties enables us to create mock catalogs with variations in those properties, which in turn allows us to quantify the sensitivity of cluster finding to current observational uncertainties in these properties. Field galaxies are sampled from existing multiband photometric surveys of similar depth. We present an application of the catalog simulator to characterize the selection function and contamination of a galaxy cluster finder that utilizes the cluster red sequence together with galaxy clustering on the sky. We estimate systematic uncertainties in the selection to be at the ≤15% level with current observational constraints on cluster galaxy populations and their evolution. We find the contamination in this cluster finder to be ∼35% to redshift z ∼ 0.6. In addition, we use the mock galaxy catalogs to test the optical mass indicator B gc and a red-sequence redshift estimator. We measure the intrinsic scatter of the B gc -mass relation to be approximately log normal with σ log10M ∼0.25 and we demonstrate photometric redshift accuracies for massive clusters at the ∼3% level out to z ∼ 0.7.

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE PIXEL ANALYSIS OF THE INTERACTING FACE-ON SPIRAL GALAXY NGC 5194 (M51A)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Joon Hyeop; Kim, Sang Chul; Park, Hong Soo; Ree, Chang Hee; Kyeong, Jaemann; Chung, Jiwon

2011-01-01

A pixel analysis is carried out on the interacting face-on spiral galaxy NGC 5194 (M51A), using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) images in the F435W, F555W, and F814W (BVI) bands. After 4 x 4 binning of the HST/ACS images to secure a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio for each pixel, we derive several quantities describing the pixel color-magnitude diagram (pCMD) of NGC 5194: blue/red color cut, red pixel sequence parameters, blue pixel sequence parameters, and blue-to-red pixel ratio. The red sequence pixels are mostly older than 1 Gyr, while the blue sequence pixels are mostly younger than 1 Gyr, in their luminosity-weighted mean stellar ages. The color variation in the red pixel sequence from V = 20 mag arcsec -2 to V = 17 mag arcsec -2 corresponds to a metallicity variation of Δ[Fe/H] ∼2 or an optical depth variation of Δτ V ∼ 4 by dust, but the actual sequence is thought to originate from the combination of those two effects. At V -2 , the color variation in the blue pixel sequence corresponds to an age variation from 5 Myr to 300 Myr under the assumption of solar metallicity and τ V = 1. To investigate the spatial distributions of stellar populations, we divide pixel stellar populations using the pixel color-color diagram and population synthesis models. As a result, we find that the pixel population distributions across the spiral arms agree with a compressing process by spiral density waves: dense dust → newly formed stars. The tidal interaction between NGC 5194 and NGC 5195 appears to enhance the star formation at the tidal bridge connecting the two galaxies. We find that the pixels corresponding to the central active galactic nucleus (AGN) area of NGC 5194 show a tight sequence at the bright-end of the pCMD, which are in the region of R ∼ 100 pc and may be a photometric indicator of AGN properties.

Star Formation, Quenching And Chemical Enrichment In Local Galaxies From Integral Field Spectroscopy

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Belfiore, Francesco

2017-08-01

Within the currently well-established ΛCDM cosmological framework we still lack a satisfactory understanding of the processes that trigger, regulate and eventually quench star formation on galactic scales. Gas flows (including inflows from the cosmic web and supernovae-driven outflows) are considered to act as self-regulatory mechanisms, generating the scaling relations between stellar mass, star formation rate and metallicity observed in the local Universe by large spectroscopic surveys. These surveys, however, have so far been limited by the availability of only one spectrum per galaxy. The aim of this dissertation is to expand the study of star formation and chemical abundances to resolved scales within galaxies by using integral field spectroscopy (IFS) data, mostly from the ongoing SDSS-IV MaNGA survey. In the first part of this thesis I demonstrate the ubiquitous presence of extended low ionisation emission-line regions (LIERs) in both late- and early-type galaxies. By studying the Hα equivalent width and diagnostic line ratios radial profiles, together with tracers of the underlying stellar population, I show that LIERs are not due to a central point source but to hot evolved (post-asymptotic giant branch) stars. In light of this, I suggest a new classification scheme for galaxies based on their line emission. By analysing the colours, star formation rates, morphologies, gas and stellar kinematics and environmental properties of galaxies with substantial LIER emission, I identify two distinct populations. Galaxies where the central regions are LIER-like, but show star formation at larger radii are late types in which star formation is slowly quenched inside-out. This transformation is associated with massive bulges. Galaxies dominated by LIER emission at all radii, on the other hand, are red-sequence galaxies harbouring a residual cold gas component, acquired mostly via external accretion. Quiescent galaxies devoid of line emission reside in denser

THE EFFECT OF DRY MERGERS ON THE COLOR-MAGNITUDE RELATION OF EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skelton, Rosalind E.; Bell, Eric F.; Somerville, Rachel S.

2009-01-01

We investigate the effect of dry merging on the color-magnitude relation (CMR) of galaxies and find that the amount of merging predicted by a hierarchical model results in a red sequence that compares well with the observed low-redshift relation. A sample of ∼ 29,000 early-type galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 6 shows that the bright end of the CMR has a shallower slope and smaller scatter than the faint end. This magnitude dependence is predicted by a simple toy model in which gas-rich mergers move galaxies onto a 'creation red sequence' (CRS) by quenching their star formation, and subsequent mergers between red, gas-poor galaxies (so-called 'dry' mergers) move galaxies along the relation. We use galaxy merger trees from a semianalytic model of galaxy formation to test the amplitude of this effect and find a change in slope at the bright end that brackets the observations, using gas fraction thresholds of 10%-30% to separate wet and dry mergers. A more realistic model that includes scatter in the CRS shows that dry merging decreases the scatter at the bright end. Contrary to previous claims, the small scatter in the observed CMR thus cannot be used to constrain the amount of dry merging.

Exploring the luminosity evolution and stellar mass assembly of 2SLAQ luminous red galaxies between redshifts 0.4 and 0.8

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Banerji, Manda; Ferreras, Ignacio; Abdalla, Filipe B.; Hewett, Paul; Lahav, Ofer

2010-03-01

We present an analysis of the evolution of 8625 luminous red galaxies (LRGs) between z = 0.4 and 0.8 in the 2dF and Sloan Digital Sky Survey LRG and QSO (2SLAQ) survey. The LRGs are split into redshift bins and the evolution of both the luminosity and stellar mass function with redshift is considered and compared to the assumptions of a passive evolution scenario. We draw attention to several sources of systematic error that could bias the evolutionary predictions made in this paper. While the inferred evolution is found to be relatively unaffected by the exact choice of spectral evolution model used to compute K + e corrections, we conclude that photometric errors could be a source of significant bias in colour-selected samples such as this, in particular when using parametric maximum likelihood based estimators. We find that the evolution of the most massive LRGs is consistent with the assumptions of passive evolution and that the stellar mass assembly of the LRGs is largely complete by z ~ 0.8. Our findings suggest that massive galaxies with stellar masses above 1011Msolar must have undergone merging and star formation processes at a very early stage (z >~ 1). This supports the emerging picture of downsizing in both the star formation as well as the mass assembly of early-type galaxies. Given that our spectroscopic sample covers an unprecedentedly large volume and probes the most massive end of the galaxy mass function, we find that these observational results present a significant challenge for many current models of galaxy formation.

Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Calibration of redMaGiC Redshift Distributions in DES and SDSS from Cross-Correlations

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Cawthon, R.; et al.

2017-12-19

We present calibrations of the redshift distributions of redMaGiC galaxies in the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 (DES Y1) and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR8 data. These results determine the priors of the redshift distribution of redMaGiC galaxies, which were used for galaxy clustering measurements and as lenses for galaxy-galaxy lensing measurements in DES Y1 cosmological analyses. We empirically determine the bias in redMaGiC photometric redshift estimates using angular cross-correlations with Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) galaxies. For DES, we calibrate a single parameter redshift bias in three photometric redshift bins: $z \\in[0.15,0.3]$, [0.3,0.45], and [0.45,0.6]. Our best fit results in each bin give photometric redshift biases of $|\\Delta z|<0.01$. To further test the redMaGiC algorithm, we apply our calibration procedure to SDSS redMaGiC galaxies, where the statistical precision of the cross-correlation measurement is much higher due to a greater overlap with BOSS galaxies. For SDSS, we also find best fit results of $|\\Delta z|<0.01$. We compare our results to other analyses of redMaGiC photometric redshifts.

Green valley galaxies as a transition population in different environments

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Coenda, Valeria; Martínez, Héctor J.; Muriel, Hernán

2018-02-01

We present a comparative analysis of the properties of passive, star-forming and transition (green valley) galaxies in four discrete environments: field, groups, the outskirts and the core of X-ray clusters. We construct samples of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey in these environments so that they are bound to have similar redshift distributions. The classification of galaxies into the three sequences is based on the UV-optical colour NUV - r. We study a number of galaxy properties: stellar mass, morphology, specific star formation rate and the history of star formation. The analysis of green valley (GV) galaxies reveals that the physical mechanisms responsible for external quenching become more efficient moving from the field to denser environments. We confirm previous findings that GV galaxies have intermediate morphologies; moreover, we find that this appears to be independent of the environment. Regarding the stellar mass of GV galaxies, we find that they tend to be more massive in the field than in denser environments. On average, GV galaxies account for ∼ 20 per cent of all galaxies in groups and X-ray clusters. We find evidence that the field environment is inefficient in transforming low-mass galaxies. GV galaxies have average star formation histories intermediate between passive and star-forming galaxies, and have a clear and consistent dependence on the environment: both, the quenching time and the amplitude of the star formation rate, decrease towards higher density environments.

Spectral evolution of galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rocca-Volmerange, B.

1989-01-01

A recent striking event in Observational Cosmology is the discovery of a large population of galaxies at extreme cosmological distances (extended from spectral redshifts ≅ 1 to ≥ 3) corresponding to a lookback time of 80% of the Universe's age. However when galaxies are observed at such remote epochs, their appearances are affected by at least two simultaneous effects which are respectively a cosmological effect and the intrinsic evolution of their stellar populations which appear younger than in our nearby galaxies. The fundamental problem is first to disentangle the respective contributions of these two effects to apparent magnitudes and colors of distant galaxies. Other effects which are likely to modify the appearance of galaxies are amplification by gravitational lensing and interaction with environment will also be considered. (author)

STAR FORMATION SIGNATURES IN OPTICALLY QUIESCENT EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salim, Samir; Rich, R. Michael

2010-01-01

In recent years, an argument has been made that a high fraction of early-type galaxies (ETGs) in the local universe experience low levels (∼ sun yr -1 ) of star formation (SF) that causes strong excess in UV flux, yet leaves the optical colors red. Many of these studies were based on Galaxy Evolution Explorer imaging of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) galaxies (z ∼ 0.1), and were thus limited by its 5'' FWHM. Poor UV resolution left other possibilities for UV excess open, such as the old populations or an active galactic nucleus (AGN). Here, we study high-resolution far-ultraviolet HST/ACS images of optically quiescent early-type galaxies with strong UV excess. The new images show that three-quarters of these moderately massive (∼5 x 10 10 M sun ) ETGs shows clear evidence of extended SF, usually in form of wide or concentric UV rings, and in some cases, striking spiral arms. SDSS spectra probably miss these features due to small fiber size. UV-excess ETGs have on average less dust and larger UV sizes (D > 40 kpc) than other green-valley galaxies, which argues for an external origin for the gas that is driving the SF. Thus, most of these galaxies appear 'rejuvenated' (e.g., through minor gas-rich mergers or intergalactic medium accretion). For a smaller subset of the sample, the declining SF (from the original internal gas) cannot be ruled out. SF is rare in very massive early-types (M * > 10 11 M sun ), a possible consequence of AGN feedback. In addition to extended UV emission, many galaxies show a compact central source, which may be a weak, optically inconspicuous AGN.

International migration patterns of Red-throated Loons (Gavia stellata) from four breeding populations in Alaska

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McCloskey, Sarah E.; Uher-Koch, Brian D.; Schmutz, Joel A.; Fondell, Thomas F.

2018-01-01

Identifying post-breeding migration and wintering distributions of migratory birds is important for understanding factors that may drive population dynamics. Red-throated Loons (Gavia stellata) are widely distributed across Alaska and currently have varying population trends, including some populations with recent periods of decline. To investigate population differentiation and the location of migration pathways and wintering areas, which may inform population trend patterns, we used satellite transmitters (n = 32) to describe migration patterns of four geographically separate breeding populations of Red-throated Loons in Alaska. On average (± SD) Red-throated Loons underwent long (6,288 ± 1,825 km) fall and spring migrations predominantly along coastlines. The most northern population (Arctic Coastal Plain) migrated westward to East Asia and traveled approximately 2,000 km farther to wintering sites than the three more southerly populations (Seward Peninsula, Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, and Copper River Delta) which migrated south along the Pacific coast of North America. These migration paths are consistent with the hypothesis that Red-throated Loons from the Arctic Coastal Plain are exposed to contaminants in East Asia. The three more southerly breeding populations demonstrated a chain migration pattern in which the more northerly breeding populations generally wintered in more northerly latitudes. Collectively, the migration paths observed in this study demonstrate that some geographically distinct breeding populations overlap in wintering distribution while others use highly different wintering areas. Red-throated Loon population trends in Alaska may therefore be driven by a wide range of effects throughout the annual cycle.

Alfalfa discovery of the nearby gas-rich dwarf galaxy Leo P. IV. Distance measurement from LBT optical imaging

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McQuinn, Kristen B. W.; Skillman, Evan D.; Berg, Danielle [Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, 116 Church Street, S.E., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Cannon, John M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Macalester College, 1600 Grand Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55105 (United States); Salzer, John J.; Rhode, Katherine L. [Department of Astronomy, Indiana University, 727 East 3rd Street, Bloomington, IN 47405 (United States); Adams, Elizabeth A. K.; Giovanelli, Riccardo; Haynes, Martha P. [Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Space Sciences Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Dolphin, Andrew, E-mail: kmcquinn@astro.umn.edu, E-mail: skillman@astro.umn.edu, E-mail: berg@astro.umn.edu, E-mail: jcannon@macalester.edu, E-mail: rhode@astro.indiana.edu, E-mail: slaz@astro.indiana.edu, E-mail: betsey@astro.cornell.edu, E-mail: riccardo@astro.cornell.edu, E-mail: haynes@astro.cornell.edu [Raytheon Company, 1151 E. Hermans Road, Tucson, AZ 85756 (United States)

2013-12-01

Leo P is a low-luminosity dwarf galaxy discovered through the blind H I Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey. The H I and follow-up optical observations have shown that Leo P is a gas-rich dwarf galaxy with both active star formation and an underlying older population, as well as an extremely low oxygen abundance. Here, we measure the distance to Leo P by applying the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) distance method to photometry of the resolved stellar population from new Large Binocular Telescope V and I band imaging. We measure a distance modulus of 26.19{sub −0.50}{sup +0.17} mag corresponding to a distance of 1.72{sub −0.40}{sup +0.14} Mpc. Although our photometry reaches 3 mag below the TRGB, the sparseness of the red giant branch yields higher uncertainties on the lower limit of the distance. Leo P is outside the Local Group with a distance and velocity consistent with the local Hubble flow. While located in a very low-density environment, Leo P lies within ∼0.5 Mpc of a loose association of dwarf galaxies which include NGC 3109, Antlia, Sextans A, and Sextans B, and 1.1 Mpc away from its next nearest neighbor, Leo A. Leo P is one of the lowest metallicity star-forming galaxies known in the nearby universe, comparable in metallicity to I Zw 18 and DDO 68, but with stellar characteristics similar to dwarf spheriodals (dSphs) in the Local Volume such as Carina, Sextans, and Leo II. Given its physical properties and isolation, Leo P may provide an evolutionary link between gas-rich dwarf irregular galaxies and dSphs that have fallen into a Local Group environment and been stripped of their gas.

Do satellite galaxies trace matter in galaxy clusters?

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Wang, Chunxiang; Li, Ran; Gao, Liang; Shan, Huanyuan; Kneib, Jean-Paul; Wang, Wenting; Chen, Gang; Makler, Martin; Pereira, Maria E. S.; Wang, Lin; Maia, Marcio A. G.; Erben, Thomas

2018-04-01

The spatial distribution of satellite galaxies encodes rich information of the structure and assembly history of galaxy clusters. In this paper, we select a red-sequence Matched-filter Probabilistic Percolation cluster sample in SDSS Stripe 82 region with 0.1 ≤ z ≤ 0.33, 20 0.7. Using the high-quality weak lensing data from CS82 Survey, we constrain the mass profile of this sample. Then we compare directly the mass density profile with the satellite number density profile. We find that the total mass and number density profiles have the same shape, both well fitted by an NFW profile. The scale radii agree with each other within a 1σ error (r_s,gal=0.34_{-0.03}^{+0.04} Mpc versus r_s=0.37_{-0.10}^{+0.15} Mpc).

The Ultraviolet and Infrared Star Formation Rates of Compact Group Galaxies: An Expanded Sample

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Lenkic, Laura; Tzanavaris, Panayiotis; Gallagher, Sarah C.; Desjardins, Tyler D.; Walker, Lisa May; Johnson, Kelsey E.; Fedotov, Konstantin; Charlton, Jane; Cardiff, Ann H.; Durell, Pat R.

2016-01-01

Compact groups of galaxies provide insight into the role of low-mass, dense environments in galaxy evolution because the low velocity dispersions and close proximity of galaxy members result in frequent interactions that take place over extended time-scales. We expand the census of star formation in compact group galaxies by Tzanavaris et al. (2010) and collaborators with Swift UVOT, Spitzer IRAC and MIPS 24 m photometry of a sample of 183 galaxies in 46 compact groups. After correcting luminosities for the contribution from old stellar populations, we estimate the dust-unobscured star formation rate (SFRUV) using the UVOT uvw2 photometry. Similarly, we use the MIPS 24 m photometry to estimate the component of the SFR that is obscured by dust (SFRIR). We find that galaxies which are MIR-active (MIR-red), also have bluer UV colours, higher specific SFRs, and tend to lie in Hi-rich groups, while galaxies that are MIR-inactive (MIR-blue) have redder UV colours, lower specific SFRs, and tend to lie in Hi-poor groups. We find the SFRs to be continuously distributed with a peak at about 1 M yr1, indicating this might be the most common value in compact groups. In contrast, the specific SFR distribution is bimodal, and there is a clear distinction between star-forming and quiescent galaxies. Overall, our results suggest that the specific SFR is the best tracer of gas depletion and galaxy evolution in compact groups.

Galaxy formation: internal mechanisms and cosmological processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martig, Marie

2010-01-01

This thesis is devoted to galaxy formation and evolution in a cosmological context. Cosmological simulations have unveiled two main modes of galaxy growth: hierarchical growth by mergers and accretion of cold gas from cosmic filaments. However, these simulations rarely take into account small scale mechanisms, that govern internal evolution and that are a key ingredient to understand galaxy formation and evolution. Thanks to a new simulation technique that I have developed, I first studied the colors of galaxies, and in particular the reddening of elliptical galaxies. I showed that the gas disk in an elliptical galaxy could be stabilized against star formation because of the galaxy's stellar component being within a spheroid instead of a disk. This mechanism can explain the red colors of some elliptical galaxies that contain a gas disk. I also studied the formation of spiral galaxies: most cosmological simulations cannot explain the formation of Milky Way-like galaxies, i.e. with a large disk and a small bulge. I showed that this issue could be partly solved by taking into account in the simulations the mass loss from evolved stars through stellar winds, planetary nebulae and supernovae explosions. (author) [fr

Clustering of galaxies around AGNs in the HSC Wide survey

Science.gov (United States)

Shirasaki, Yuji; Akiyama, Masayuki; Nagao, Tohru; Toba, Yoshiki; He, Wanqiu; Ohishi, Masatoshi; Mizumoto, Yoshihiko; Miyazaki, Satoshi; Nishizawa, Atsushi J.; Usuda, Tomonori

2018-01-01

We have measured the clustering of galaxies around active galactic nuclei (AGNs) for which single-epoch virial masses of the super-massive black hole (SMBH) are available to investigate the relation between the large-scale environment of AGNs and the evolution of SMBHs. The AGN samples used in this work were derived from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) observations and the galaxy samples were from the 240 deg2 S15b data of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP). The investigated redshift range is 0.6-3.0, and the masses of the SMBHs lie in the range 107.5-1010 M⊙. The absolute magnitude of the galaxy samples reaches to Mλ310 ˜ -18 at rest-frame wavelength 310 nm for the low-redshift end of the samples. More than 70% of the galaxies in the analysis are blue. We found a significant dependence of the cross-correlation length on redshift, which primarily reflects the brightness-dependence of the galaxy clustering. At the lowest redshifts the cross-correlation length increases from 7 h-1 Mpc around Mλ310 = -19 mag to >10 h-1 Mpc beyond Mλ310 = -20 mag. No significant dependence of the cross-correlation length on BH mass was found for whole galaxy samples dominated by blue galaxies, while there was an indication of BH mass dependence in the cross-correlation with red galaxies. These results provides a picture of the environment of AGNs studied in this paper being enriched with blue star-forming galaxies, and a fraction of the galaxies are evolving into red galaxies along with the evolution of SMBHs in that system.

a Study of the AGB in Local Group Bulge Populations

Science.gov (United States)

Rich, R.

1994-01-01

We propose to survey the bolometric luminosities, colors, and space distribution of the most luminous asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in the bulges of M31, M32, and M33. We seek to discover whether the bulges of these galaxies are relatively young, of order 10 Gyr rather than 15 Gyr. We will use WFPC2 and the R, I, and F1042M (1 micron) filters. Knowing that F1042M falls on the first continuum point of M giants, we have shown that we can use 1.04 micron fluxes to reliably calculate bolometric magnitudes for these very red stars. Color information from R and I will permit (1) comparison with Galactic bulge M giants, (2) an estimate of the spread of abundance and (3) increase the accuracy of the bolometric magnitudes. Frames with the damaged HST show signs of resolution to within 3" of the M31 nucleus; Red images with the aberrated HST show a red star cluster associated with the nucleus. Ground-based studies of M32 find an intermediate-age population from spectroscopy and infrared photometry. The repaired HST should resolve stars close to the nuclei of these galaxies. We will measure bolometric luminosity functions to determine if the populations are intermediate age, and attempt to measure the abundance range for stars near the nuclei of these galaxies. If metals have been lost due to winds, theory predicts that we should see a substantial spread of abundances even near the nucleus.

THE MERGER-TRIGGERED ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS CONTRIBUTION TO THE ULTRALUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXY POPULATION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Draper, A. R.; Ballantyne, D. R.

2012-01-01

It has long been thought that there is a connection between ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), quasars, and major mergers. Indeed, simulations show that major mergers are capable of triggering massive starbursts and quasars. However, observations by the Herschel Space Observatory suggest that, at least at high redshift, there may not always be a simple causal connection between ULIRGs and mergers. Here, we combine an evolving merger-triggered active galactic nucleus (AGN) luminosity function with a merger-triggered starburst model to calculate the maximum contribution of major mergers to the ULIRG population. We find that major mergers can account for the entire local population of ULIRGs hosting AGNs and ∼25% of the total local ULIRG luminosity density. By z ∼ 1, major mergers can no longer account for the luminosity density of ULIRGs hosting AGNs and contribute ∼<12% of the total ULIRG luminosity density. This drop is likely due to high-redshift galaxies being more gas rich and therefore able to achieve high star formation rates through secular evolution. Additionally, we find that major mergers can account for the local population of warm ULIRGs. This suggests that selecting high-redshift warm ULIRGs will allow for the identification of high-redshift merger-triggered ULIRGs. As major mergers are likely to trigger very highly obscured AGNs, a significant fraction of the high-redshift warm ULIRG population may host Compton thick AGNs.

Gradients of stellar population properties and evolution clues in a nearby galaxy M101

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Lin; Kong, Xu; Lin, Xuanbin; Mao, Yewei; Cheng, Fuzhen [Center for Astrophysics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026 (China); Zou, Hu; Jiang, Zhaoji; Zhou, Xu, E-mail: linlin@mail.ustc.edu.cn, E-mail: xkong@ustc.edu.cn, E-mail: zouhu@nao.cas.cn [National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012 (China)

2013-06-01

Multiband photometric images from ultraviolet and optical to infrared are collected to derive spatially resolved properties of the nearby Scd-type galaxy M101. With evolutionary stellar population synthesis models, two-dimensional distributions and radial profiles of age, metallicity, dust attenuation, and star formation timescale in the form of the Sandage star formation history are obtained. When fitting with the models, we use the IRX-A {sub FUV} relation, found to depend on a second parameter of birth rate b (ratio of present- and past-averaged star formation rates), to constrain the dust attenuation. There are obvious parameter gradients in the disk of M101, which supports the theory of an 'inside-out' disk growth scenario. Two distinct disk regions with different gradients of age and color are discovered, similar to another late-type galaxy, NGC 628. The metallicity gradient of the stellar content is flatter than that of H II regions. The stellar disk is optically thicker inside than outside and the global dust attenuation of this galaxy is lower compared with galaxies of similar and earlier morphological type. We note that a variational star formation timescale describes the real star formation history of a galaxy. The timescale increases steadily from the center to the outskirt. We also confirm that the bulge in this galaxy is a disk-like pseudobulge, whose evolution is likely to be induced by some secular processes of the small bar which is relatively young, metal-rich, and contains much dust.

Ecology of a nesting red-shouldered hawk population

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, R.E.

1949-01-01

An ecological study of a nesting Red-shouldered Hawk population was made over a 185 square mile area on the Coastal Plain of Maryland in 1947. The courting and nesting season extended from late February until late June.....During the nesting season a combination of fairly extensive flood-plain forest with adjacent clearings appears to meet the major ecological requirements of the Red-shouldered Hawk in this region. A total of 51 pairs was found in the study area, occupying about 42 square miles or 23% of the total area studied. The population density on the land that was suitable for this species was about 1 pair per .8 of a square mile, while the density for the entire study area would be only about 1 pair per 3.6 square miles.....Nests were spaced fairly evenly over most of the flood-plain forests, especially in areas where the width.of the flood plain was relatively constant. There was an inverse correlation between the width of the flood plain and the distances between nests in adjacent territories. The nests were all situated in fairly large trees and were from 28 feet to 77 feet above the ground, averaging 50. They were found in 14 different species of trees, all deciduous.....The Barred Owl and Red-shouldered Hawk were commonly associated together in the same lowland habitats. Other raptores were all largely restricted to upland habitats....The average number of young in 47 occupied nests following the hatching period was 2.7 with extremes of 1 and 4. Only 3 out of 52 nests (6%) were found deserted at this time....The food habits of nestling Red-shouldered Hawks are very diversified. They feed on many types of warm-blooded and cold-blooded vertebrates as well as invertebrates.

Bot fly parasitism of the red-backed vole: host survival, infection risk, and population growth.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemaître, Jérôme; Fortin, Daniel; Montiglio, Pierre-Olivier; Darveau, Marcel

2009-03-01

Parasites can play an important role in the dynamics of host populations, but empirical evidence remains sparse. We investigated the role of bot fly (Cuterebra spp.) parasitism in red-backed voles (Myodes gapperi) by first assessing the impacts of the parasite on the probability of vole survival under stressful conditions as well as on the reproductive activity of females. We then identified the main factors driving both the individual risk of infection and the abundance of bot flies inside red-backed voles. Finally, we evaluated the impacts of bot fly prevalence on the growth rate of vole populations between mid-July and mid-August. Thirty-six populations of red-backed voles were sampled in the boreal forest of Québec, Canada. The presence and the abundance of parasites in voles, two host life history traits (sex and body condition), three indices of habitat complexity (tree basal area, sapling basal area, coarse woody debris volume), and vole abundance were considered in models evaluating the effects of bot flies on host populations. We found that the probability of survival of red-backed voles in live traps decreased with bot fly infection. Both the individual risk of infection and the abundance of bot flies in red-backed voles were driven mainly by vole abundance rather than by the two host life history traits or the three variables of habitat complexity. Parasitism had population consequences: bot fly prevalence was linked to a decrease in short-term growth rate of vole populations over the summer. We found that bot flies have the potential to reduce survival of red-backed voles, an effect that may apply to large portions of populations.

THE TYPE II SUPERNOVA RATE IN z {approx} 0.1 GALAXY CLUSTERS FROM THE MULTI-EPOCH NEARBY CLUSTER SURVEY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Graham, M. L.; Sand, D. J. [Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, 6740 Cortona Drive, Suite 102, Santa Barbara, CA 93117 (United States); Bildfell, C. J.; Pritchet, C. J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3055, STN CSC, Victoria BC V8W 3P6 (Canada); Zaritsky, D.; Just, D. W.; Herbert-Fort, S. [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Hoekstra, H. [Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Niels Bohrweg 2, NL-2333 CA Leiden (Netherlands); Sivanandam, S. [Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, 50 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5S 3H4 (Canada); Foley, R. J. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

2012-07-01

We present seven spectroscopically confirmed Type II cluster supernovae (SNe II) discovered in the Multi-Epoch Nearby Cluster Survey, a supernova survey targeting 57 low-redshift 0.05 < z < 0.15 galaxy clusters with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. We find the rate of Type II supernovae within R{sub 200} of z {approx} 0.1 galaxy clusters to be 0.026{sup +0.085}{sub -0.018}(stat){sup +0.003}{sub -0.001}(sys) SNuM. Surprisingly, one SN II is in a red-sequence host galaxy that shows no clear evidence of recent star formation (SF). This is unambiguous evidence in support of ongoing, low-level SF in at least some cluster elliptical galaxies, and illustrates that galaxies that appear to be quiescent cannot be assumed to host only Type Ia SNe. Based on this single SN II we make the first measurement of the SN II rate in red-sequence galaxies, and find it to be 0.007{sup +0.014}{sub -0.007}(stat){sup +0.009}{sub -0.001}(sys) SNuM. We also make the first derivation of cluster specific star formation rates (sSFR) from cluster SN II rates. We find that for all galaxy types the sSFR is 5.1{sup +15.8}{sub -3.1}(stat) {+-} 0.9(sys) M{sub Sun} yr{sup -1} (10{sup 12} M{sub Sun }){sup -1}, and for red-sequence galaxies only it is 2.0{sup +4.2}{sub -0.9}(stat) {+-} 0.4(sys) M{sub Sun} yr{sup -1} (10{sup 12} M{sub Sun }){sup -1}. These values agree with SFRs measured from infrared and ultraviolet photometry, and H{alpha} emission from optical spectroscopy. Additionally, we use the SFR derived from our SNII rate to show that although a small fraction of cluster Type Ia SNe may originate in the young stellar population and experience a short delay time, these results do not preclude the use of cluster SN Ia rates to derive the late-time delay time distribution for SNe Ia.

Cosmology and galaxy formation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rees, M.J.

1977-01-01

Implications of the massive halos and ''missing mass'' for galaxy formation are addressed; it is suggested that this mass consists of ''Population III'' stars that formed before the galaxies did. 19 references

A GMBCG GALAXY CLUSTER CATALOG OF 55,424 RICH CLUSTERS FROM SDSS DR7

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hao Jiangang; Annis, James; Johnston, David E.; McKay, Timothy A.; Evrard, August; Siegel, Seth R.; Gerdes, David; Koester, Benjamin P.; Rykoff, Eli S.; Rozo, Eduardo; Wechsler, Risa H.; Busha, Michael; Becker, Matthew; Sheldon, Erin

2010-01-01

We present a large catalog of optically selected galaxy clusters from the application of a new Gaussian Mixture Brightest Cluster Galaxy (GMBCG) algorithm to SDSS Data Release 7 data. The algorithm detects clusters by identifying the red-sequence plus brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) feature, which is unique for galaxy clusters and does not exist among field galaxies. Red-sequence clustering in color space is detected using an Error Corrected Gaussian Mixture Model. We run GMBCG on 8240 deg 2 of photometric data from SDSS DR7 to assemble the largest ever optical galaxy cluster catalog, consisting of over 55,000 rich clusters across the redshift range from 0.1 < z < 0.55. We present Monte Carlo tests of completeness and purity and perform cross-matching with X-ray clusters and with the maxBCG sample at low redshift. These tests indicate high completeness and purity across the full redshift range for clusters with 15 or more members.

A GMBCG galaxy cluster catalog of 55,880 rich clusters from SDSS DR7

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hao, Jiangang; McKay, Timothy A.; Koester, Benjamin P.; Rykoff, Eli S.; Rozo, Eduardo; Annis, James; Wechsler, Risa H.; Evrard, August; Siegel, Seth R.; Becker, Matthew; Busha, Michael; /Fermilab /Michigan U. /Chicago U., Astron. Astrophys. Ctr. /UC, Santa Barbara /KICP, Chicago /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC /Caltech /Brookhaven

2010-08-01

We present a large catalog of optically selected galaxy clusters from the application of a new Gaussian Mixture Brightest Cluster Galaxy (GMBCG) algorithm to SDSS Data Release 7 data. The algorithm detects clusters by identifying the red sequence plus Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG) feature, which is unique for galaxy clusters and does not exist among field galaxies. Red sequence clustering in color space is detected using an Error Corrected Gaussian Mixture Model. We run GMBCG on 8240 square degrees of photometric data from SDSS DR7 to assemble the largest ever optical galaxy cluster catalog, consisting of over 55,000 rich clusters across the redshift range from 0.1 < z < 0.55. We present Monte Carlo tests of completeness and purity and perform cross-matching with X-ray clusters and with the maxBCG sample at low redshift. These tests indicate high completeness and purity across the full redshift range for clusters with 15 or more members.

QUALITATIVE INTERPRETATION OF GALAXY SPECTRA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanchez Almeida, J.; Morales-Luis, A. B. [Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Terlevich, R.; Terlevich, E. [Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica, Tonantzintla, Puebla (Mexico); Cid Fernandes, R., E-mail: jos@iac.es, E-mail: abml@iac.es, E-mail: rjt@ast.cam.ac.uk, E-mail: eterlevi@inaoep.mx, E-mail: cid@astro.ufsc.br [Departamento de Fisica-CFM, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, P.O. Box 476, 88040-900 Florianopolis, SC (Brazil)

2012-09-10

We describe a simple step-by-step guide to qualitative interpretation of galaxy spectra. Rather than an alternative to existing automated tools, it is put forward as an instrument for quick-look analysis and for gaining physical insight when interpreting the outputs provided by automated tools. Though the recipe is for general application, it was developed for understanding the nature of the Automatic Spectroscopic K-means-based (ASK) template spectra. They resulted from the classification of all the galaxy spectra in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data release 7, thus being a comprehensive representation of the galaxy spectra in the local universe. Using the recipe, we give a description of the properties of the gas and the stars that characterize the ASK classes, from those corresponding to passively evolving galaxies, to H II galaxies undergoing a galaxy-wide starburst. The qualitative analysis is found to be in excellent agreement with quantitative analyses of the same spectra. We compare the mean ages of the stellar populations with those inferred using the code STARLIGHT. We also examine the estimated gas-phase metallicity with the metallicities obtained using electron-temperature-based methods. A number of byproducts follow from the analysis. There is a tight correlation between the age of the stellar population and the metallicity of the gas, which is stronger than the correlations between galaxy mass and stellar age, and galaxy mass and gas metallicity. The galaxy spectra are known to follow a one-dimensional sequence, and we identify the luminosity-weighted mean stellar age as the affine parameter that describes the sequence. All ASK classes happen to have a significant fraction of old stars, although spectrum-wise they are outshined by the youngest populations. Old stars are metal-rich or metal-poor depending on whether they reside in passive galaxies or in star-forming galaxies.

LEO P: AN UNQUENCHED VERY LOW-MASS GALAXY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McQuinn, Kristen B. W.; Skillman, Evan D.; Berg, Danielle; Dolphin, Andrew; Cannon, John M.; Salzer, John J.; Rhode, Katherine L.; Adams, Elizabeth A. K.; Giovanelli, Riccardo; Haynes, Martha P.; Girardi, Léo

2015-01-01

Leo P is a low-luminosity dwarf galaxy discovered through the blind H i Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey. The H i and follow-up optical observations have shown that Leo P is a gas-rich dwarf galaxy with active star formation, an underlying older population, and an extremely low oxygen abundance. We have obtained optical imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope to two magnitudes below the red clump in order to study the evolution of Leo P. We refine the distance measurement to Leo P to be 1.62 ± 0.15 Mpc, based on the luminosity of the horizontal branch stars and 10 newly identified RR Lyrae candidates. This places the galaxy at the edge of the Local Group, ∼0.4 Mpc from Sextans B, the nearest galaxy in the NGC 3109 association of dwarf galaxies of which Leo P is clearly a member. The star responsible for ionizing the H ii region is most likely an O7V or O8V spectral type, with a stellar mass ≳25 M ⊙ . The presence of this star provides observational evidence that massive stars at the upper end of the initial mass function are capable of being formed at star formation rates as low as ∼10 −5 M ⊙ yr −1 . The best-fitting star formation history (SFH) derived from the resolved stellar populations of Leo P using the latest PARSEC models shows a relatively constant star formation rate over the lifetime of the galaxy. The modeled luminosity characteristics of Leo P at early times are consistent with low-luminosity dSph Milky Way satellites, suggesting that Leo P is what a low-mass dSph would look like if it evolved in isolation and retained its gas. Despite the very low mass of Leo P, the imprint of reionization on its SFH is subtle at best, and consistent with being totally negligible. The isolation of Leo P, and the total quenching of star formation of Milky Way satellites of similar mass, implies that the local environment dominates the quenching of the Milky Way satellites

LEO P: AN UNQUENCHED VERY LOW-MASS GALAXY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McQuinn, Kristen B. W.; Skillman, Evan D.; Berg, Danielle [Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, 116 Church Street, S.E., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Dolphin, Andrew [Raytheon Company, 1151 E. Hermans Road, Tucson, AZ 85756 (United States); Cannon, John M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Macalester College, 1600 Grand Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55105 (United States); Salzer, John J.; Rhode, Katherine L. [Department of Astronomy, Indiana University, 727 East 3rd Street, Bloomington, IN 47405 (United States); Adams, Elizabeth A. K. [ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Postbus 2, 7990 AA, Dwingeloo (Netherlands); Giovanelli, Riccardo; Haynes, Martha P. [Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Space Sciences Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Girardi, Léo, E-mail: kmcquinn@astro.umn.edu [Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, INAF, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 5, I-35122 Padova (Italy)

2015-10-20

Leo P is a low-luminosity dwarf galaxy discovered through the blind H i Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey. The H i and follow-up optical observations have shown that Leo P is a gas-rich dwarf galaxy with active star formation, an underlying older population, and an extremely low oxygen abundance. We have obtained optical imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope to two magnitudes below the red clump in order to study the evolution of Leo P. We refine the distance measurement to Leo P to be 1.62 ± 0.15 Mpc, based on the luminosity of the horizontal branch stars and 10 newly identified RR Lyrae candidates. This places the galaxy at the edge of the Local Group, ∼0.4 Mpc from Sextans B, the nearest galaxy in the NGC 3109 association of dwarf galaxies of which Leo P is clearly a member. The star responsible for ionizing the H ii region is most likely an O7V or O8V spectral type, with a stellar mass ≳25 M{sub ⊙}. The presence of this star provides observational evidence that massive stars at the upper end of the initial mass function are capable of being formed at star formation rates as low as ∼10{sup −5} M{sub ⊙} yr{sup −1}. The best-fitting star formation history (SFH) derived from the resolved stellar populations of Leo P using the latest PARSEC models shows a relatively constant star formation rate over the lifetime of the galaxy. The modeled luminosity characteristics of Leo P at early times are consistent with low-luminosity dSph Milky Way satellites, suggesting that Leo P is what a low-mass dSph would look like if it evolved in isolation and retained its gas. Despite the very low mass of Leo P, the imprint of reionization on its SFH is subtle at best, and consistent with being totally negligible. The isolation of Leo P, and the total quenching of star formation of Milky Way satellites of similar mass, implies that the local environment dominates the quenching of the Milky Way satellites.

KECK/LRIS SPECTROSCOPIC CONFIRMATION OF COMA CLUSTER DWARF GALAXY MEMBERSHIP ASSIGNMENTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiboucas, Kristin; Tully, R. Brent; Marzke, Ronald O.; Trentham, Neil; Ferguson, Henry C.; Hammer, Derek; Carter, David; Khosroshahi, Habib

2010-01-01

Keck/LRIS multi-object spectroscopy has been carried out on 140 of some of the lowest and highest surface brightness faint (19 < R < 22) dwarf galaxy candidates in the core region of the Coma Cluster. These spectra are used to measure redshifts and establish membership for these faint dwarf populations. The primary goal of the low surface brightness sample is to test our ability to use morphological and surface brightness criteria to distinguish between Coma Cluster members and background galaxies using high resolution Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys images. Candidates were rated as expected members, uncertain, or expected background. From 93 spectra, 51 dwarf galaxy members and 20 background galaxies are identified. Our morphological membership estimation success rate is ∼100% for objects expected to be members and better than ∼90% for galaxies expected to be in the background. We confirm that low surface brightness is a very good indicator of cluster membership. High surface brightness galaxies are almost always background with confusion arising only from the cases of the rare compact elliptical (cE) galaxies. The more problematic cases occur at intermediate surface brightness. Many of these galaxies are given uncertain membership ratings, and these were found to be members about half of the time. Including color information will improve membership determination but will fail for some of the same objects that are already misidentified when using only surface brightness and morphology criteria. cE galaxies with B-V colors ∼0.2 mag redward of the red sequence in particular require spectroscopic follow up. In a sample of 47 high surface brightness, ultracompact dwarf candidates, 19 objects have redshifts which place them in the Coma Cluster, while another 6 have questionable redshift measurements but may also prove to be members. Redshift measurements are presented and the use of indirect means for establishing cluster membership is

THE SIZE EVOLUTION OF PASSIVE GALAXIES: OBSERVATIONS FROM THE WIDE-FIELD CAMERA 3 EARLY RELEASE SCIENCE PROGRAM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ryan, R. E. Jr. [Physics Department, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 (United States); McCarthy, P. J. [Observatories of the Carnegie Institute of Washington, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States); Cohen, S. H.; Rutkowski, M. J.; Mechtley, M. R.; Windhorst, R. A. [School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287 (United States); Yan, H. [Center for Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Hathi, N. P. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521 (United States); Koekemoer, A. M.; Bond, H. E.; Bushouse, H. [Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); O' Connell, R. W. [Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904 (United States); Balick, B. [Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Calzetti, D. [Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 (United States); Crockett, R. M. [Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU (United Kingdom); Disney, M. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 3AA (United Kingdom); Dopita, M. A. [Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Australian National University, Weston Creek, ACT 2611 (Australia); Frogel, J. A. [Galaxies Unlimited, Lutherville, MD 21093 (United States); Hall, D. N. B. [Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States); Holtzman, J. A., E-mail: rryan@physics.ucdavis.edu [Department of Astronomy, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003 (United States); and others

2012-04-10

We present the size evolution of passively evolving galaxies at z {approx} 2 identified in Wide-Field Camera 3 imaging from the Early Release Science program. Our sample was constructed using an analog to the passive BzK galaxy selection criterion, which isolates galaxies with little or no ongoing star formation at z {approx}> 1.5. We identify 30 galaxies in {approx}40 arcmin{sup 2} to H < 25 mag. By fitting the 10-band Hubble Space Telescope photometry from 0.22 {mu}m {approx}< {lambda}{sub obs} {approx}< 1.6 {mu}m with stellar population synthesis models, we simultaneously determine photometric redshift, stellar mass, and a bevy of other population parameters. Based on the six galaxies with published spectroscopic redshifts, we estimate a typical redshift uncertainty of {approx}0.033(1 + z). We determine effective radii from Sersic profile fits to the H-band image using an empirical point-spread function. By supplementing our data with published samples, we propose a mass-dependent size evolution model for passively evolving galaxies, where the most massive galaxies (M{sub *} {approx} 10{sup 11} M{sub Sun }) undergo the strongest evolution from z {approx} 2 to the present. Parameterizing the size evolution as (1 + z){sup -{alpha}}, we find a tentative scaling of {alpha} Almost-Equal-To (- 0.6 {+-} 0.7) + (0.9 {+-} 0.4)log (M{sub *}/10{sup 9} M{sub Sun }), where the relatively large uncertainties reflect the poor sampling in stellar mass due to the low numbers of high-redshift systems. We discuss the implications of this result for the redshift evolution of the M{sub *}-R{sub e} relation for red galaxies.

A COMPACT GROUP OF GALAXIES AT Z = 2.48 HOSTING AN AGN-DRIVEN OUTFLOW

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shih, Hsin-Yi [Gemini Observatory, 670 N Aohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720 (United States); Stockton, Alan, E-mail: jshih@gemini.edu, E-mail: stockton@ifa.hawaii.edu [Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)

2015-12-10

We present observations of a remarkable compact group of galaxies at z = 2.48. Four galaxies, all within 40 kpc of each other, surround a powerful high-redshift radio source. This group comprises two compact red passive galaxies and a pair of merging galaxies. One of the red galaxies, with an apparent stellar mass of 3.6 × 10{sup 11}M{sub ⊙} and an effective radius of 470 pc, is one of the most extreme examples of a massive quiescent compact galaxy found so far. One of the pair of merging galaxies hosts the active galactic nucleus (AGN) producing the large powerful radio structure. The merger is massive and enriched, consistent with the mass–metallicity relation expected at this redshift. Close to the merging nuclei, the emission lines exhibit broad and asymmetric profiles that suggest outflows powered either by a very young expanding radio jet or by AGN radiation. At ≳50 kpc from the system, we found a fainter extended-emission region that may be a part of a radio-jet-driven outflow.

A large sample of Kohonen selected E+A (post-starburst) galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Meusinger, H.; Brünecke, J.; Schalldach, P.; in der Au, A.

2017-01-01

Context. The galaxy population in the contemporary Universe is characterised by a clear bimodality, blue galaxies with significant ongoing star formation and red galaxies with only a little. The migration between the blue and the red cloud of galaxies is an issue of active research. Post starburst (PSB) galaxies are thought to be observed in the short-lived transition phase. Aims: We aim to create a large sample of local PSB galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to study their characteristic properties, particularly morphological features indicative of gravitational distortions and indications for active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Another aim is to present a tool set for an efficient search in a large database of SDSS spectra based on Kohonen self-organising maps (SOMs). Methods: We computed a huge Kohonen SOM for ∼106 spectra from SDSS data release 7. The SOM is made fully available, in combination with an interactive user interface, for the astronomical community. We selected a large sample of PSB galaxies taking advantage of the clustering behaviour of the SOM. The morphologies of both PSB galaxies and randomly selected galaxies from a comparison sample in SDSS Stripe 82 (S82) were inspected on deep co-added SDSS images to search for indications of gravitational distortions. We used the Portsmouth galaxy property computations to study the evolutionary stage of the PSB galaxies and archival multi-wavelength data to search for hidden AGNs. Results: We compiled a catalogue of 2665 PSB galaxies with redshifts z 3 Å and z cloud, in agreement with the idea that PSB galaxies represent the transitioning phase between actively and passively evolving galaxies. The relative frequency of distorted PSB galaxies is at least 57% for EW(Hδ) > 5 Å, significantly higher than in the comparison sample. The search for AGNs based on conventional selection criteria in the radio and MIR results in a low AGN fraction of ∼2-3%. We confirm an MIR excess in the mean SED of

X-ray Point Source Populations in Spiral and Elliptical Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Colbert, E.; Heckman, T.; Weaver, K.; Strickland, D.

2002-01-01

The hard-X-ray luminosity of non-active galaxies has been known to be fairly well correlated with the total blue luminosity since the days of the Einstein satellite. However, the origin of this hard component was not well understood. Some possibilities that were considered included X-ray binaries, extended upscattered far-infrared light via the inverse-Compton process, extended hot 107 K gas (especially in ellipitical galaxies), or even an active nucleus. Chandra images of normal, elliptical and starburst galaxies now show that a significant amount of the total hard X-ray emission comes from individual point sources. We present here spatial and spectral analyses of the point sources in a small sample of Chandra obervations of starburst galaxies, and compare with Chandra point source analyses from comparison galaxies (elliptical, Seyfert and normal galaxies). We discuss possible relationships between the number and total hard luminosity of the X-ray point sources and various measures of the galaxy star formation rate, and discuss possible options for the numerous compact sources that are observed.

The vast population of Wolf-Rayet and red supergiant stars in M101. I. Motivation and first results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shara, Michael M.; Bibby, Joanne L.; Zurek, David [Department of Astrophysics, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West and 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192 (United States); Crowther, Paul A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Hounsfield Road, Sheffield S3 7RH (United Kingdom); Moffat, Anthony F. J. [Département de Physique, Université de Montréal, CP 6128 Succ. C-V, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7 (Canada); Drissen, Laurent [Département de Physique, Université Laval, Pavillon Vachon, Quebec City, QC G1K 7P4 (Canada)

2013-12-01

Assembling a catalog of at least 10,000 Wolf-Rayet (W-R) stars is an essential step in proving (or disproving) that these stars are the progenitors of Type Ib and Type Ic supernovae. To this end, we have used the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to carry out a deep, He II optical narrowband imaging survey of the ScI spiral galaxy M101. Almost the entire galaxy was imaged with the unprecedented depth and resolution that only the HST affords. Differenced with archival broadband images, the narrowband images allow us to detect much of the W-R star population of M101. We describe the extent of the survey and our images, as well as our data reduction procedures. A detailed broadband-narrowband imaging study of a field east of the center of M101, containing the giant star-forming region NGC 5462, demonstrates our completeness limits, how we find W-R candidates, their properties and spatial distribution, and how we rule out most contaminants. We use the broadband images to locate luminous red supergiant (RSG) candidates. The spatial distributions of the W-R and RSG stars near NGC 5462 are strikingly different. W-R stars dominate the complex core, while RSGs dominate the complex halo. Future papers in this series will describe and catalog more than a thousand W-R and RSG candidates that are detectable in our images, as well as spectra of many of those candidates.

Dark matter halo properties from galaxy-galaxy lensing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brimioulle, Fabrice

2013-01-01

redshift and galaxy shape catalogs. The complete galaxy sample consists of a total number of 5 x 10 6 lens galaxies within a redshift range of 0.05 phot ≤1 and 1.7 x 10 6 corresponding source galaxies with redshifts of 0.05 phot ≤2 and successfully extracted shapes. Assuming that the galaxy halos can be described by analytic profiles, the scaling relations with absolute luminosity for the galaxy masses, their mass-to-light ratios and the corresponding halo parameters have been extracted. Based on the obtained scaling relations, the average values for the corresponding halo parameters and the mean galaxy masses for a given luminosity were derived as a function of considered halo model, the galaxy SED and the local environment density. We obtain a total mass of M total =23.2 +2.8 -2.5 x 10 11 h -1 M s un for an average galaxy with chosen reference luminosity of L * =1.6 x 10 10 h -2 L s un. In contrast, the mean total masses for red galaxies of same luminosity exceed the value of the average galaxy about 130%, while the mass of a blue galaxy is about 65% below the value of an average fiducial galaxy. Investigating the influence of the environmental density on the galaxy properties we observe a significant increase of the total integrated masses with galaxy density, however the velocity dispersions are not affected. This indicates that the central galaxy matter density mostly depends on the galaxy luminosity but not on the environment. Simulations based on the extracted scientific results were built, verifying the robustness of the scientific results. They give a clear hint that multiple deflections on different lens galaxies have to be properly accounted for in order to avoid systematically biased results.

SPITZER OBSERVATIONS OF PASSIVE AND STAR-FORMING EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES: AN INFRARED COLOR-COLOR SEQUENCE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Temi, Pasquale; Brighenti, Fabrizio; Mathews, William G.

2009-01-01

We describe the infrared properties of a large sample of early-type galaxies, comparing data from the Spitzer archive with Ks-band emission from the Two Micron All Sky Survey. While most representations of this data result in correlations with large scatter, we find a remarkably tight relation among colors formed by ratios of luminosities in Spitzer-Multiband Imaging Photometer bands (24, 70, and 160 μm) and the Ks band. Remarkably, this correlation among E and S0 galaxies follows that of nearby normal galaxies of all morphological types. In particular, the tight infrared color-color correlation for S0 galaxies alone follows that of the entire Hubble sequence of normal galaxies, roughly in order of galaxy type from ellipticals to spirals to irregulars. The specific star formation rate (SFR) of S0 galaxies estimated from the 24 μm luminosity increases with decreasing K-band luminosity (or stellar mass) from essentially zero, as with most massive ellipticals, to rates typical of irregular galaxies. Moreover, the luminosities of the many infrared-luminous S0 galaxies can significantly exceed those of the most luminous (presumably post-merger) E galaxies. SFRs in the most infrared-luminous S0 galaxies approach 1-10 solar masses per year. Consistently, with this picture we find that while most early-type galaxies populate an infrared red sequence, about 24% of the objects (mostly S0s) are in an infrared blue cloud together with late-type galaxies. For those early-type galaxies also observed at radio frequencies, we find that the far-infrared luminosities correlate with the mass of neutral and molecular hydrogen, but the scatter is large. This scatter suggests that the star formation may be intermittent or that similar S0 galaxies with cold gaseous disks of nearly equal mass can have varying radial column density distributions that alter the local and global SFRs.

A STRONGLY LENSED MASSIVE ULTRACOMPACT QUIESCENT GALAXY AT z ∼ 2.4 IN THE COSMOS/UltraVISTA FIELD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muzzin, Adam; Labbé, Ivo; Franx, Marijn; Holt, J.; Szomoru, Daniel; Van de Sande, Jesse; Van Dokkum, Pieter; Brammer, Gabriel; Marchesini, Danilo; Stefanon, Mauro; Buitrago, F.; Dunlop, James; Caputi, K. I.; Fynbo, J. P. U.; Milvang-Jensen, Bo; Le Févre, Olivier; McCracken, Henry J.

2012-01-01

We report the discovery of a massive ultracompact quiescent galaxy that has been strongly lensed into multiple images by a foreground galaxy at z 0.960. This system was serendipitously discovered as a set of extremely K s -bright high-redshift galaxies with red J – K s colors using new data from the UltraVISTA YJHK s near-infrared survey. The system was also previously identified as an optically faint lens/source system using the COSMOS Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) imaging by Faure et al. Photometric redshifts for the three brightest images of the source galaxy determined from 27-band photometry place the source at z = 2.4 ± 0.1. We provide an updated lens model for the system that is a good fit to the positions and morphologies of the galaxies in the ACS image. The lens model implies that the magnification of the three brightest images is a factor of 4-5. We use the lens model, combined with the K s -band image, to constrain the size and Sérsic profile of the galaxy. The best-fit model is an ultracompact galaxy (R e = 0.64 +0.08 –0.18 kpc, lensing-corrected), with a Sérsic profile that is intermediate between a disk and a bulge profile (n 2.2 +2.3 – 0 .9 ), albeit with considerable uncertainties on the Sérsic profile. We present aperture photometry for the source galaxy images that have been corrected for flux contamination from the central lens. The best-fit stellar population model is a massive galaxy (log(M star /M ☉ ) = 10.8 +0.1 –0.1 , lensing-corrected) with an age of 1.0 +1.0 –0.4 Gyr, moderate dust extinction (A v = 0.8 +0.5 –0.6 ), and a low specific star formation rate (log(SSFR) –1 ). This is typical of massive ''red-and-dead'' galaxies at this redshift and confirms that this source is the first bona fide strongly lensed massive ultracompact quiescent galaxy to be discovered. We conclude with a discussion of the prospects of finding a larger sample of these galaxies.

EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES AT z ∼ 1.3. II. MASSES AND AGES OF EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS AND THEIR DEPENDENCE ON STELLAR POPULATION MODEL ASSUMPTIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raichoor, A.; Mei, S.; Huertas-Company, M.; Nakata, F.; Kodama, T.; Stanford, S. A.; Rettura, A.; Jee, M. J.; Holden, B. P.; Illingworth, G.; Postman, M.; White, R. L.; Rosati, P.; Blakeslee, J. P.; Demarco, R.; Eisenhardt, P.; Tanaka, M.

2011-01-01

We have derived masses and ages for 79 early-type galaxies (ETGs) in different environments at z ∼ 1.3 in the Lynx supercluster and in the GOODS/CDF-S field using multi-wavelength (0.6-4.5 μm; KPNO, Palomar, Keck, Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer) data sets. At this redshift the contribution of the thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) phase is important for ETGs, and the mass and age estimates depend on the choice of the stellar population model used in the spectral energy distribution fits. We describe in detail the differences among model predictions for a large range of galaxy ages, showing the dependence of these differences on age. Current models still yield large uncertainties. While recent models from Maraston and Charlot and Bruzual offer better modeling of the TP-AGB phase with respect to less recent Bruzual and Charlot models, their predictions do not often match. The modeling of this TP-AGB phase has a significant impact on the derived parameters for galaxies observed at high redshift. Some of our results do not depend on the choice of the model: for all models, the most massive galaxies are the oldest ones, independent of the environment. When using the Maraston and Charlot and Bruzual models, the mass distribution is similar in the clusters and in the groups, whereas in our field sample there is a deficit of massive (M ∼> 10 11 M sun ) ETGs. According to those last models, ETGs belonging to the cluster environment host on average older stars with respect to group and field populations. This difference is less significant than the age difference in galaxies of different masses.

Do Galaxies Follow Darwinian Evolution?

Science.gov (United States)

2006-12-01

, France, who coordinates the VIMOS VLT Deep Survey team that made the discovery. "They suggest that galaxies as we see them today are the product of their inherent genetic information, evolved over time, as well as complex interactions with their environments, such as mergers." Scientists have known for several decades that galaxies in the Universe's past look different to those in the present-day Universe, local to the Milky Way [3]. Today, galaxies can be roughly classified as red, when few or no new stars are being born, or blue, where star formation is still ongoing. Moreover, a strong correlation exists between a galaxy's colour and the environment it resides in: the more sociable types found in dense clusters are more likely to be red than the more isolated ones. By looking back at a wide range of galaxies of a variety of ages, the astronomers were aiming to study how this peculiar correlation has evolved over time. "Using VIMOS, we were able to use the largest sample of galaxies currently available for this type of study, and because of the instrument's ability to study many objects at a time we obtained many more measurements than previously possible," said Angela Iovino, from the Brera Astronomical Observatory, Italy, another member of the team. The team's discovery of a marked variation in the 'colour-density' relationship, depending on whether a galaxy is found in a cluster or alone, and on its luminosity, has many potential implications. The findings suggest for example that being located in a cluster quenches a galaxy's ability to form stars more quickly compared with those in isolation. Luminous galaxies also run out of star-forming material at an earlier time than fainter ones. They conclude that the connection between galaxies' colour, luminosity and their local environment is not merely a result of primordial conditions 'imprinted' during their formation - but just as for humans, galaxies' relationship and interactions can have a profound impact on their

Nearby Red Dwarfs are Sexy for Planets and Life

Science.gov (United States)

Henry, T. J.; Jao, W.-C.; Subasavage, J. P.; RECONS Team

2005-12-01

The RECONS group continues to discover many nearby red dwarfs in the southern sky through a combination of proper motion surveys, literature review, and ultimately, our parallax program CTIOPI. Already, we have measured the first accurate parallaxes for 11 of the nearest 100 stellar systems, including four within 5 parsecs of the Sun. These nearby red dwarfs are prime candidates for NASA's Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) because the astrometric perturbations are largest for planets orbiting stars of low mass that are nearby. In addition, new multiple red dwarf systems can be targeted for mass determinations, thereby providing points on a comprehensive mass-luminosity relation for the most populous members of the Galaxy. Recent atmospheric modeling of planets orbiting red dwarfs indicates that even if the planets are tidally locked, heat distribution is highly effective in keeping the worlds balmy over the entire surface. Red dwarfs are therefore "back on the table" as viable hosts of life-bearing planets. Given their ubiquity, red dwarfs are being seriously considered as prime SETI targets, and will allow us to answer not only the question "Are We Alone?" but "Just How Alone Are We?" This work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, NASA's Space Interferometry Mission, and Georgia State University.

Asteroseismology of Stellar Populations in the Milky Way

CERN Document Server

Eggenberger, Patrick; Girardi, Léo; Montalbán, Josefina

2015-01-01

The detection of radial and non-radial solar-like oscillations in thousands of G-K giants with CoRoT and Kepler is paving the road for detailed studies of stellar populations in the Galaxy. The available average seismic constraints allow largely model-independent determination of stellar radii and masses, and can be used to determine the position and age of thousands of stars in different regions of the Milky Way, and of giants belonging to open clusters. Such a close connection between stellar evolution, Galactic evolution, and asteroseismology opens a new very promising gate in our understanding of stars and galaxies.  This book represents a natural progression from the collection of review papers presented in the book 'Red Giants as Probes of the Structure and Evolution of the Milky Way', which appeared in the  Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings series in 2012. This sequel volume contains review papers on spectroscopy, seismology of red giants, open questions in Galactic astrophysics, and discu...

UBV photometry of binary galaxies. The cataloque

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Demin, V.V.; Dibaj, Eh.A.; Tomov, A.N.

1981-01-01

The catalogue of photometric UDV-magnitudes and colours of 105 binary galaxies is presented. The integral B magnitudes and (B-V) and (U-B) colours are reduced to the standard UBV system. The observations are corrected for the atmospheric extinction, galactic absorption, red shift, internal absorption and galaxy declination reddening. The data are reduced to the standard D(0) diameter. Fully corrected observations are compared with the data of the RC2 catalogue. On the basis of the obtained catalogue for 210 individual galaxies, the correlation between the colours of the components is discussed. The strong correlation (Holmberg effect) is shown to exist for EE and SS systems [ru

CHEMICAL DIVERSITY IN THE ULTRA-FAINT DWARF GALAXY TUCANA II

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ji, Alexander P.; Frebel, Anna; Ezzeddine, Rana [Department of Physics and Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Casey, Andrew R., E-mail: alexji@mit.edu [Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA (United Kingdom)

2016-11-20

We present the first detailed chemical abundance study of the ultra-faint dwarf galaxy Tucana II, based on high-resolution Magellan/MIKE spectra of four red giant stars. The metallicities of these stars range from [Fe/H] = −3.2 to −2.6, and all stars are low in neutron-capture abundances ([Sr/Fe] and [Ba/Fe] < −1). However, a number of anomalous chemical signatures are present. One star is relatively metal-rich ([Fe/H] = −2.6) and shows [Na, α , Sc/Fe] < 0, suggesting an extended star formation history with contributions from AGB stars and SNe Ia. Two stars with [Fe/H] < −3 are mildly carbon-enhanced ([C/Fe] ∼ 0.7) and may be consistent with enrichment by faint supernovae, if such supernovae can produce neutron-capture elements. A fourth star with [Fe/H] = −3 is carbon-normal, and exhibits distinct light element abundance ratios from the carbon-enhanced stars. This carbon-normal star implies that at least two distinct nucleosynthesis sources, both possibly associated with Population III stars, contributed to the early chemical enrichment of this galaxy. Despite its very low luminosity, Tucana II shows a diversity of chemical signatures that preclude it from being a simple “one-shot” first galaxy yet still provide a window into star and galaxy formation in the early universe.

CHEMICAL DIVERSITY IN THE ULTRA-FAINT DWARF GALAXY TUCANA II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ji, Alexander P.; Frebel, Anna; Ezzeddine, Rana; Casey, Andrew R.

2016-01-01

We present the first detailed chemical abundance study of the ultra-faint dwarf galaxy Tucana II, based on high-resolution Magellan/MIKE spectra of four red giant stars. The metallicities of these stars range from [Fe/H] = −3.2 to −2.6, and all stars are low in neutron-capture abundances ([Sr/Fe] and [Ba/Fe] < −1). However, a number of anomalous chemical signatures are present. One star is relatively metal-rich ([Fe/H] = −2.6) and shows [Na, α , Sc/Fe] < 0, suggesting an extended star formation history with contributions from AGB stars and SNe Ia. Two stars with [Fe/H] < −3 are mildly carbon-enhanced ([C/Fe] ∼ 0.7) and may be consistent with enrichment by faint supernovae, if such supernovae can produce neutron-capture elements. A fourth star with [Fe/H] = −3 is carbon-normal, and exhibits distinct light element abundance ratios from the carbon-enhanced stars. This carbon-normal star implies that at least two distinct nucleosynthesis sources, both possibly associated with Population III stars, contributed to the early chemical enrichment of this galaxy. Despite its very low luminosity, Tucana II shows a diversity of chemical signatures that preclude it from being a simple “one-shot” first galaxy yet still provide a window into star and galaxy formation in the early universe.

Population and breeding success of Red-headed Vulture Sarcogyps ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Campbell Murn

the population trends of Red-headed and Egyptian Vultures in Nepal, where this study was undertaken. Large-scale surveys of domestic ungulate carcasses (the principal food source of vultures in South Asia) across India indicate that 10-11% of carcasses are contaminated with diclofenac (Cuthbert et al. 2011b).

Oscillating Red Giants Observed during Campaign 1 of the Kepler K2 Mission: New Prospects for Galactic Archaeology

Science.gov (United States)

Stello, Dennis; Huber, Daniel; Sharma, Sanjib; Johnson, Jennifer; Lund, Mikkel N.; Handberg, Rasmus; Buzasi, Derek L.; Silva Aguirre, Victor; Chaplin, William J.; Miglio, Andrea; Pinsonneault, Marc; Basu, Sarbani; Bedding, Tim R.; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss; Casagrande, Luca; Davies, Guy; Elsworth, Yvonne; Garcia, Rafael A.; Mathur, Savita; Di Mauro, Maria Pia; Mosser, Benoit; Schneider, Donald P.; Serenelli, Aldo; Valentini, Marica

2015-08-01

NASA’s re-purposed Kepler mission—dubbed K2—has brought new scientific opportunities that were not anticipated for the original Kepler mission. One science goal that makes optimal use of K2's capabilities, in particular its 360° ecliptic field of view, is galactic archaeology—the study of the evolution of the Galaxy from the fossil stellar record. The thrust of this research is to exploit high-precision, time-resolved photometry from K2 in order to detect oscillations in red giant stars. This asteroseismic information can provide estimates of stellar radius (hence distance), mass, and age of vast numbers of stars across the Galaxy. Here we present the initial analysis of a subset of red giants, observed toward the north galactic gap, during the mission’s first full science campaign. We investigate the feasibility of using K2 data for detecting oscillations in red giants that span a range in apparent magnitude and evolutionary state (hence intrinsic luminosity). We demonstrate that oscillations are detectable for essentially all cool giants within the {log}g range ˜1.9-3.2. Our detection is complete down to {\\text{Kp}} ˜ 14.5, which results in a seismic sample with little or no detection bias. This sample is ideally suited to stellar population studies that seek to investigate potential shortcomings of contemporary Galaxy models.

Are dSph galaxies Galactic building blocks?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gilmore G.

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSph are frequently assumed to represent surviving examples of a vast now destroyed population of small systems in which many of the stars now forming the Milky Way were formed. Ongoing accretion and considerable sub-structure in the outer Galactic halo is direct evidence that there is some role for stars formed in small galaxies in populating the (outer galaxy. The evidence from stellar populations is however contradictory to this. dSph stellar populations are unlike any stars found in significant numbers in the Milky Way. The dSph are indeed small galaxies, formed over long times with low rates of star formation. Most of the stars in the Milky Way halo however seem to have formed quickly, at higher star formation rate, in gas mixed efficiently on kpc scales. The overwhelming majority of Milky Way stars, those in the Galactic thick disk and thin disk, seem to have nothing at all to do with dwarf galaxy origins.

Dwarf galaxies in the coma cluster: Star formation properties and evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Hammer, Derek M.

in the process of being quenched or were only recently quenched. We modeled the quenching timescales for transition galaxies, or “green valley” objects, and found that the majority are quenched in less than 1 Gyr. This timescale is consistent with rapid dynamical processes that are active in the cluster environment as opposed to the more gradual quenching mechanisms that exist in the group environment. For the passive galaxy population, we have measured an average stellar age of 6-8 Gyr for the red sequence which is consistent with previous studies based on spectroscopic observations. We note that the star formation properties of Coma member galaxies were established from photometry alone, as opposed to using spectroscopic data which are more challenging to obtain for dwarf galaxies. We have measured the faintest UV luminosity functions (LFs) presented for a rich galaxy cluster thus far. The Coma UV LFs are 3.5 mag fainter than previous studies in Coma, and are sufficiently deep that we reach the dwarf passive galaxy population for the first time. We have introduced a new technique for measuring the LF which avoids color selection effects associated with previous methods. The UV LFs constructed separately for star-forming and passive galaxies follow a similar distribution at faint magnitudes, which suggests that the recent quenching of infalling dwarf star-forming galaxies is sufficient to build the dwarf passive population in Coma. The Coma UV LFs show a turnover at faint magnitudes as compared to the field, owing to a deficit of dwarf galaxies with stellar masses below M∗ = 108 M⊙ . We show that the UV LFs for the field behind the Coma cluster are nearly identical to the average field environment, and do not show evidence for a turnover at faint magnitudes. We suspect that the missing dwarf galaxies in Coma are severely disrupted by tidal processes as they are accreted onto the cluster, just prior to reaching the infall region studied here.

Stellar populations of elliptical galaxies in Virgo Cluster. I. The data and stellar population analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yamada, Y; Arimoto, N; Vazdekis, A; Peletier, RF

2006-01-01

We have determined spectroscopic ages of elliptical galaxies in the Virgo Cluster using spectra of very high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N > 100 angstrom(-1)). We observed eight galaxies with the Subaru Telescope and have combined this sample with six galaxies previously observed with the WHT. To

SHARDS: constraints on the dust attenuation law of star-forming galaxies at z ˜ 2

Science.gov (United States)

Tress, Mónica; Mármol-Queraltó, Esther; Ferreras, Ignacio; Pérez-González, Pablo G.; Barro, Guillermo; Pampliega, Belén Alcalde; Cava, Antonio; Domínguez-Sánchez, Helena; Eliche-Moral, Carmen; Espino-Briones, Néstor; Esquej, Pilar; Hernán-Caballero, Antonio; Rodighiero, Giulia; Rodriguez-Muñoz, Lucía

2018-04-01

We make use of the Survey of High-z Absorption Red and Dead Sources, an ultradeep (sample of 1753 galaxies. By comparing the data with a set of population synthesis models coupled to a parametric dust attenuation law, we constrain RV and B, as well as the colour excess, E(B - V). We find a correlation between RV and B, which can be interpreted either as a result of the grain size distribution, or a variation of the dust geometry among galaxies. According to the former, small dust grains are associated with a stronger NUV bump. The latter would lead to a range of clumpiness in the distribution of dust within the interstellar medium of star-forming galaxies. The observed wide range of NUV bump strengths can lead to a systematic in the interpretation of the UV slope β typically used to characterize the dust content. In this study, we quantify these variations, concluding that the effects are Δβ ˜ 0.4.

THE ACS NEARBY GALAXY SURVEY TREASURY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalcanton, Julianne J.; Williams, Benjamin F.; Rosema, Keith; Gogarten, Stephanie M.; Christensen, Charlotte; Gilbert, Karoline; Hodge, Paul; Seth, Anil C.; Dolphin, Andrew; Holtzman, Jon; Skillman, Evan D.; Weisz, Daniel; Cole, Andrew; Girardi, Leo; Karachentsev, Igor D.; Olsen, Knut; Freeman, Ken; Gallart, Carme; Harris, Jason; De Jong, Roelof S.

2009-01-01

The ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury (ANGST) is a systematic survey to establish a legacy of uniform multi-color photometry of resolved stars for a volume-limited sample of nearby galaxies (D 4 in luminosity and star formation rate. The survey data consist of images taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), supplemented with archival data and new Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) imaging taken after the failure of ACS. Survey images include wide field tilings covering the full radial extent of each galaxy, and single deep pointings in uncrowded regions of the most massive galaxies in the volume. The new wide field imaging in ANGST reaches median 50% completenesses of m F475W = 28.0 mag, m F606W = 27.3 mag, and m F814W = 27.3 mag, several magnitudes below the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB). The deep fields reach magnitudes sufficient to fully resolve the structure in the red clump. The resulting photometric catalogs are publicly accessible and contain over 34 million photometric measurements of >14 million stars. In this paper we present the details of the sample selection, imaging, data reduction, and the resulting photometric catalogs, along with an analysis of the photometric uncertainties (systematic and random), for both ACS and WFPC2 imaging. We also present uniformly derived relative distances measured from the apparent magnitude of the TRGB.

Population studies in groups and clusters of galaxies. III. A catalog of galaxies in five nearby groups

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferguson, H.C.; Sandage, A.

1990-01-01

Five nearby groups of galaxies have been surveyed using large-scale plates from the 2.5 m duPont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. Catalogs of galaxies brighter than B(T) = 20 are presented for the Leo, Dorado, NGC 1400, NGC 5044, and Antlia groups. A total of 1044 galaxies are included, from visual inspection of 14 plates, covering 31 deg square. Galaxies have been classified in the extended Hubble system, and group memberships have been assigned based on velocity (where available) and morphology. About half the galaxies listed are likely members of one of the nearby groups. The catalogs are complete to B(T) = 18, although the completeness limits vary slightly from group to group. Based on King model fits to the surface density profiles, the core radii of the groups range from 0.3 to 1 Mpc, and central densities range from 120 to 1900 galaxies Mpc exp-3 brighter than M(BT) = -12.5. Dynamical analysis indicates that all of the groups are likely to be gravitationally bound. 64 refs

Galaxy clusters in the cosmic web

Science.gov (United States)

Acebrón, A.; Durret, F.; Martinet, N.; Adami, C.; Guennou, L.

2014-12-01

Simulations of large scale structure formation in the universe predict that matter is essentially distributed along filaments at the intersection of which lie galaxy clusters. We have analysed 9 clusters in the redshift range 0.4DAFT/FADA survey, which combines deep large field multi-band imaging and spectroscopic data, in order to detect filaments and/or structures around these clusters. Based on colour-magnitude diagrams, we have selected the galaxies likely to be in the cluster redshift range and studied their spatial distribution. We detect a number of structures and filaments around several clusters, proving that colour-magnitude diagrams are a reliable method to detect filaments around galaxy clusters. Since this method excludes blue (spiral) galaxies at the cluster redshift, we also apply the LePhare software to compute photometric redshifts from BVRIZ images to select galaxy cluster members and study their spatial distribution. We then find that, if only galaxies classified as early-type by LePhare are considered, we obtain the same distribution than with a red sequence selection, while taking into account late-type galaxies just pollutes the background level and deteriorates our detections. The photometric redshift based method therefore does not provide any additional information.

Current and Future Dynamics of the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Population Inhabiting the Savannah River National Environmental Research Park: Managing For Population Growth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walters, J.R.; Taylor, T.B.; Daniels, S.J.; Crowder, L.B.; Pridd, J.A.

2001-01-01

Research aimed to study the dynamics of the SRS population of Red-Cockaded woodpecker and compare to those of other populations to identify factors limiting population growth; recruitment clusters were evaluated to determine what properties of individual cavity trees, surrounding habitat and the surrounding landscape might limit occupancy through natural dispersal. A spatial simulation model was used to project expected dispersal rates and population growth under current conditions and compare those estimates to observed dispersal and population growth. Red cockaded woodpecker populations at SRS are stable considering size. Research reveals that closer placement of recruitment clusters to active territories would produce higher growth rates while decreasing management intensity

Current and Future Dynamics of the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Population Inhabiting the Savannah River National Environmental Research Park: Managing For Population Growth

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walters, J.R.; Taylor, T.B.; Daniels, S.J.; Crowder, L.B.; Pridd, J.A.

2001-01-01

Research aimed to study the dynamics of the SRS population of Red-Cockaded woodpecker and compare to those of other populations to identify factors limiting population growth; recruitment clusters were evaluated to determine what properties of individual cavity trees, surrounding habitat and the surrounding landscape might limit occupancy through natural dispersal. A spatial simulation model was used to project expected dispersal rates and population growth under current conditions and compare those estimates to observed dispersal and population growth. Red cockaded woodpecker populations at SRS are stable considering size. Research reveals that closer placement of recruitment clusters to active territories would produce higher growth rates while decreasing management intensity.

Chandra Finds Surprising Black Hole Activity In Galaxy Cluster

Science.gov (United States)

2002-09-01

bright active galaxies, often referred to as Active Galactic Nuclei, or AGN. Many astronomers think that all galaxies have central, supermassive black holes, yet only a small percent show activity. What is needed to power the AGN is fuel in the form of a nearby reservoir of gas and dust. Galaxy clusters contain hundreds to thousands of galaxies. They are the largest known structures in the universe and serve as a microcosm for the mechanics of the Universe at large. The galaxies in clusters are often old, reddish elliptically shaped galaxies, distinct from blue, spiral galaxies like our own. These old galaxies also do not have many young stars. The theory now in question is that as galaxies enter into clusters at high speeds, they are stripped of their interstellar gas, much as a strong wind strips leaves from a tree. Galaxies may also collide with one another and use up all of their gas in one huge burst of star formation triggered by this interaction. These processes remove most, if not all, of the gas that isn't locked up in stars. As they no longer have the raw material to form new stars, the stellar population slowly gets old and the Galaxy appears red. No gas is left to fuel an AGN. Previous surveys of galaxy clusters with optical telescopes have found that about only one percent of the galaxies in a cluster have AGN. This latest Chandra observation if typical, however, bumps the count up to about 5 percent. The team found six red galaxies with high X-ray activity during a nearly 14-hour Chandra observation of a galaxy cluster named Abell 2104, over 700 million light years from Earth. Based on previous optical surveys, only one was expected. "If we relied on optical data alone, we would have missed these hidden monsters," said co-author Dr. John Mulchaey. Only one of the six AGN, in fact, had the optical spectral properties typical of AGN activity. "The presence of these AGN indicate that supermassive black holes have somehow retained a fuel source, despite the

Astrophysics of Red Supergiants

Science.gov (United States)

Levesque, Emily M.

2017-12-01

'Astrophysics of Red Supergiants' is the first book of its kind devoted to our current knowledge of red supergiant stars, a key evolutionary phase that is critical to our larger understanding of massive stars. It provides a comprehensive overview of the fundamental physical properties of red supergiants, their evolution, and their extragalactic and cosmological applications. It serves as a reference for researchers from a broad range of fields (including stellar astrophysics, supernovae, and high-redshift galaxies) who are interested in red supergiants as extreme stages of stellar evolution, dust producers, supernova progenitors, extragalactic metallicity indicators, members of massive binaries and mergers, or simply as compelling objects in their own right. The book is accessible to a range of experience levels, from graduate students up to senior researchers.

The ALHAMBRA survey: 2D analysis of the stellar populations in massive early-type galaxies at z < 0.3

Science.gov (United States)

San Roman, I.; Cenarro, A. J.; Díaz-García, L. A.; López-Sanjuan, C.; Varela, J.; González Delgado, R. M.; Sánchez-Blázquez, P.; Alfaro, E. J.; Ascaso, B.; Bonoli, S.; Borlaff, A.; Castander, F. J.; Cerviño, M.; Fernández-Soto, A.; Márquez, I.; Masegosa, J.; Muniesa, D.; Pović, M.; Viironen, K.; Aguerri, J. A. L.; Benítez, N.; Broadhurst, T.; Cabrera-Caño, J.; Cepa, J.; Cristóbal-Hornillos, D.; Infante, L.; Martínez, V. J.; Moles, M.; del Olmo, A.; Perea, J.; Prada, F.; Quintana, J. M.

2018-01-01

We present a technique that permits the analysis of stellar population gradients in a relatively low-cost way compared to integral field unit (IFU) surveys. We developed a technique to analyze unresolved stellar populations of spatially resolved galaxies based on photometric multi-filter surveys. This technique allows the analysis of vastly larger samples and out to larger galactic radii. We derived spatially resolved stellar population properties and radial gradients by applying a centroidal Voronoi tessellation and performing a multicolor photometry spectral energy distribution fitting. This technique has been successfully applied to a sample of 29 massive (M⋆ > 1010.5M⊙) early-type galaxies at z Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPIA) at Heidelberg and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC).

CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVAE FROM THE PALOMAR TRANSIENT FACTORY: INDICATIONS FOR A DIFFERENT POPULATION IN DWARF GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arcavi, Iair; Gal-Yam, Avishay; Kasliwal, Mansi M.; Quimby, Robert M.; Ofek, Eran O.; Kulkarni, Shrinivas R.; Law, Nicholas; Cooke, Jeff; Nugent, Peter E.; Poznanski, Dovi; Cenko, S. Bradley; Bloom, Joshua S.; Filippenko, Alexei V.; Sullivan, Mark; Hook, Isobel; Joensson, Jakob; Blake, Sarah; Howell, D. Andrew; Dekany, Richard; Rahmer, Gustavo

2010-01-01

We use the first compilation of 72 core-collapse supernovae (SNe) from the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) to study their observed subtype distribution in dwarf galaxies compared to giant galaxies. Our sample is the largest single-survey, untargeted, spectroscopically classified, homogeneous collection of core-collapse events ever assembled, spanning a wide host-galaxy luminosity range (down to M r ∼ -14 mag) and including a substantial fraction (>20%) of dwarf (M r ≥ -18 mag) hosts. We find more core-collapse SNe in dwarf galaxies than expected and several interesting trends emerge. We use detailed subclassifications of stripped-envelope core-collapse SNe and find that all Type I core-collapse events occurring in dwarf galaxies are either SNe Ib or broad-lined SNe Ic (SNe Ic-BL), while 'normal' SNe Ic dominate in giant galaxies. We also see a significant excess of SNe IIb in dwarf hosts. We hypothesize that in lower metallicity hosts, metallicity-driven mass loss is reduced, allowing massive stars that would have appeared as 'normal' SNe Ic in metal-rich galaxies to retain some He and H, exploding as Ib/IIb events. At the same time, another mechanism allows some stars to undergo extensive stripping and explode as SNe Ic-BL (and presumably also as long-duration gamma-ray bursts). Our results are still limited by small-number statistics, and our measurements of the observed N(Ib/c)/N(II) number ratio in dwarf and giant hosts (0.25 +0.3 -0.15 and 0.23 +0.11 -0.08 , respectively; 1σ uncertainties) are consistent with previous studies and theoretical predictions. As additional PTF data accumulate, more robust statistical analyses will be possible, allowing the evolution of massive stars to be probed via the dwarf-galaxy SN population.

Measuring the Evolution of Stellar Populations And Gas Metallicity in Galaxies with Far-Infrared Space Spectroscopy

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Stacey, Gordon

We propose a study of the evolution of stellar populations and gas metallicities in about 80 nearby star forming galaxies based on mining the NASA data archives for observations of the [NIII] 57 µm, [OIII] 52 µm and/or 88 µm, [NII] 122 and [CII] 158 µm far-infrared (FIR) fine- structure lines and other archives for thermal radio continuum. These lines are powerful probes of both stellar populations and gas properties and our primary science derives from these tracers. For sources that show both signs of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and star formation, we will take advantage of the readily available NASA Spitzer IRS data base that includes mid-IR [NeII] 12.8 µm, [NeIII] 15.6 µm and [NeV] 14.3 µm, [OIV] 25.9 µm and PAH observations. These complementary data reveal the relative fractions of the FIR line emission that might arise from star formation and the narrow line regions (NLR) associated with an AGN, thereby providing a robust set of observations to compare with star formation models. Subsets of the FIR lines have been detected from hundreds of nearby galaxies. From both theoretical studies and the results of these pioneering observations we know that these lines can be powerful probes of stellar populations and star formation in galaxies. Here we plan to use various combinations of the lines to constrain (1) the age of the stellar populations (through lines that trace the hardness of the stellar radiation fields, hence stellar spectral type), (2) the degree of processing of the interstellar medium (through lines that trace growth of secondary to primary element abundances for example, the N/O ratio), (3) the efficiency of star formation (through growth in absolute abundances of N and O, the N/H and O/H ratios), and (4) the current day mass function of upper main sequence stars. Surprisingly, there has been no systematic study of the large sample of these line detections made with PACS on Herschel in order to truly assess and calibrate their diagnostic

VLT/UVES abundances in four nearby dwarf spheroidal galaxies. II. Implications for understanding galaxy evolution

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tolstoy, E; Venn, KA; Shetrone, M; Primas, F; Hill, [No Value; Kaufer, A; Szeifert, T

We have used the Ultraviolet Visual-Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) on Kueyen (UT2) of the Very Large Telescope to take spectra of 15 individual red giant stars in the centers of four nearby dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSph's) : Sculptor, Fornax, Carina, and Leo I. We measure the abundance variations of

The ATLAS3D Project - XXX. Star formation histories and stellar population scaling relations of early-type galaxies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

McDermid, Richard M.; Alatalo, Katherine; Blitz, Leo; Bournaud, Frédéric; Bureau, Martin; Cappellari, Michele; Crocker, Alison F.; Davies, Roger L.; Davis, Timothy A.; de Zeeuw, P. T.; Duc, Pierre-Alain; Emsellem, Eric; Khochfar, Sadegh; Krajnović, Davor; Kuntschner, Harald; Morganti, Raffaella; Naab, Thorsten; Oosterloo, Tom; Sarzi, Marc; Scott, Nicholas; Serra, Paolo; Weijmans, Anne-Marie; Young, Lisa M.

We present the stellar population content of early-type galaxies from the ATLAS3D survey. Using spectra integrated within apertures covering up to one effective radius, we apply two methods: one based on measuring line-strength indices and applying single stellar population (SSP) models to derive

E+A galaxies in the SDSS. Stellar population and morphology

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Leiva, R.; Galaz, G.

2014-10-01

Galaxies with E+A spectrum have deep Balmer absorption and no H_{α} and [OII] emission. This suggest recent star formation and the lack of ongoing star formation. With an E+A sample from the SDSS DR 7 (Aihara et al. 2011) we study the morphology with Galaxy Zoo 1 data and the star formation history fitting models from Bruzual & Charlot (2003). We found an underpopulation of spiral and disk like galaxies and an overpopulation of interacting galaxies, the last seems consistent with the scenario where, at low z, the interaction mechanism is responsible for at least part of the E+A galaxies. The star formation history (SFH) fits most of the spectra indicating an increased star formation around 2 Gyr in the past. Additional parameters like dust internal extinction need to be included to improve the fitting.

Topics in Galaxy Evolution: Early Star Formation and Quenching

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Goncalves, Thiago Signorini

In this thesis, we present three projects designed to shed light on yet unanswered questions on galaxy formation and evolution. The first two concern a sample of UV-bright starburst galaxies in the local universe (z ˜0.2). These objects are remarkably similar to star-forming galaxies that were abundant at high redshifts (2 manipulating our observations to mimic our objects at greater distances, we show how low resolution and signal-to-noise ratios can lead to erroneous conclusions, in particular when attempting to diagnose mergers as the origin of the starburst. Then, we present results from a pilot survey to study the cold, molecular gas reservoir in such objects. Again, we show that the observed properties are analogous to those observed at high redshift, in particular with respect to baryonic gas fractions in the galaxy, higher than normally found in low-extinction objects in the local universe. Furthermore, we show how gas surface density and star-formation surface density follow the same relation as local galaxies, albeit at much higher values. Finally, we discuss an observational project designed to measure the mass flux density from the blue sequence to the red sequence across the so-called green valley. We obtain the deepest spectra ever observed of green valley galaxies at intermediate redshifts (z˜0.8) in order to measure spectral features from which we can measure the star formation histories of individual galaxies. We measure a mass flux ratio that is higher than observed in the local universe, indicating the red sequence was growing faster when the universe was half its present age than today.

2.2 micron image of 3C 368 at z = 1.13, a galaxy with aligned radio and stellar axes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chambers, K.C.; Miley, G.K.; Joyce, R.R.

1988-01-01

A K-band IR image of the z = 1.13 radio galaxy 3C 368, one of the brightest examples of the recently discovered phenomenon of alignment between the optical and radio axes of powerful distant radio galaxies, is presented. The observations show that the IR morphology is also elongated and aligned along the optical and radio axes, but is not coincident with the radio emission. Various mechanisms for producing the IR and optical flux and the resultant constraints on the origin of the alignment effect in high-redshift radio galaxies are discussed. The most likely explanation is that the emission is produced mainly by young stars formed by interaction of the radio source with the ISM. The IR flux is then interpreted as dominated by a population of red supergiants. Independent of the origin of the emission, the observed alignment implies that powerful radio galaxies at high redshifts are distant from giant ellipticals, even in the IR. Hence, attempts to derive a cosmological standard candle using studies which combine these two types of galaxies are likely to be invalid. 32 references

STELLAR POPULATIONS AND EVOLUTION OF EARLY-TYPE CLUSTER GALAXIES: CONSTRAINTS FROM OPTICAL IMAGING AND SPECTROSCOPY OF z = 0.5–0.9 GALAXY CLUSTERS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jørgensen, Inger; Chiboucas, Kristin

2013-01-01

We present an analysis of stellar populations and evolutionary history of galaxies in three similarly rich galaxy clusters MS0451.6–0305 (z = 0.54), RXJ0152.7–1357 (z = 0.83), and RXJ1226.9+3332 (z = 0.89). Our analysis is based on high signal-to-noise ground-based optical spectroscopy and Hubble Space Telescope imaging for a total of 17-34 members in each cluster. Using the dynamical masses together with the effective radii and the velocity dispersions, we find no indication of evolution of sizes or velocity dispersions with redshift at a given galaxy mass. We establish the Fundamental Plane (FP) and scaling relations between absorption line indices and velocity dispersions. We confirm that the FP is steeper at z ≈ 0.86 compared to the low-redshift FP, indicating that under the assumption of passive evolution the formation redshift, z form , depends on the galaxy velocity dispersion (or alternatively mass). At a velocity dispersion of σ = 125 km s –1 (Mass = 10 10.55 M ☉ ) we find z form = 1.24 ± 0.05, while at σ = 225 km s –1 (Mass = 10 11.36 M ☉ ) the formation redshift is z form = 1.95 +0.3 –0.2 , for a Salpeter initial mass function. The three clusters follow similar scaling relations between absorption line indices and velocity dispersions as those found for low-redshift galaxies. The zero point offsets for the Balmer lines depend on cluster redshifts. However, the offsets indicate a slower evolution, and therefore higher formation redshift, than the zero point differences found from the FP, if interpreting the data using a passive evolution model. Specifically, the strength of the higher order Balmer lines Hδ and Hγ implies z form > 2.8. The scaling relations for the metal indices in general show small and in some cases insignificant zero point offsets, favoring high formation redshifts for a passive evolution model. Based on the absorption line indices and recent stellar population models from Thomas et al., we find that MS0451.6–0305

Visibility of galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Disney, M.J.

1976-01-01

It is stated that counts of galaxies could be seriously biased by selection effects, largely influenced by the brightness of the night sky. To illustrate this suppose the Earth were situated near the center of a giant elliptical galaxy. The mean surface brightness of the sky would then appear some 8 to 9 mag. brighter than is observed from our position in the Galaxy. Extragalactic space would then appear to be empty void; spiral and irregular galaxies would be invisible, and all that could be easily detected would be the core regions of galaxy ellipticals very similar to our own. Much of the Universe would be blinded by the surface brightness of the parent galaxy. This blinding, however, is a relative matter and the question arises as to what extent we are blinded by the spiral galaxy in which we exist. Strong indirect evidence exists that our knowledge of galaxies is heavily biased by the sky background, and the true population of extragalactic space may be very different from that seen. Other relevant work is also discussed, and further investigational work is indicated. (U.K.)

PRIMUS: AN OBSERVATIONALLY MOTIVATED MODEL TO CONNECT THE EVOLUTION OF THE ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS AND GALAXY POPULATIONS OUT TO z ∼ 1

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Aird, James [Department of Physics, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom); Coil, Alison L.; Diamond-Stanic, Aleksandar M. [Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, Department of Physics, University of California, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92093 (United States); Moustakas, John [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Siena College, 515 Loudon Road, Loudonville, NY 12211 (United States); Blanton, Michael R. [Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003 (United States); Cool, Richard J. [MMT Observatory, 1540 E Second Street, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Eisenstein, Daniel J. [Harvard College Observatory, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Wong, Kenneth C. [Steward Observatory, The University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Zhu, Guangtun, E-mail: j.a.aird@durham.ac.uk [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)

2013-09-20

We present an observationally motivated model to connect the active galactic nucleus (AGN) and galaxy populations at 0.2 < z < 1.0 and predict the AGN X-ray luminosity function (XLF). We start with measurements of the stellar mass function of galaxies (from the Prism Multi-object Survey) and populate galaxies with AGNs using models for the probability of a galaxy hosting an AGN as a function of specific accretion rate. Our model is based on measurements indicating that the specific accretion rate distribution is a universal function across a wide range of host stellar masses with slope γ{sub 1} ≈ –0.65 and an overall normalization that evolves with redshift. We test several simple assumptions to extend this model to high specific accretion rates (beyond the measurements) and compare the predictions for the XLF with the observed data. We find good agreement with a model that allows for a break in the specific accretion rate distribution at a point corresponding to the Eddington limit, a steep power-law tail to super-Eddington ratios with slope γ{sub 2}=-2.1{sup +0.3}{sub -0.5}, and a scatter of 0.38 dex in the scaling between black hole and host stellar mass. Our results show that samples of low luminosity AGNs are dominated by moderately massive galaxies (M{sub *} ∼ 10{sup 10}-10{sup 11} M{sub ☉}) growing with a wide range of accretion rates due to the shape of the galaxy stellar mass function rather than a preference for AGN activity at a particular stellar mass. Luminous AGNs may be a severely skewed population with elevated black hole masses relative to their host galaxies and in rare phases of rapid accretion.

Galaxy Zoo: Comparing the visual morphology of synthetic galaxies from the Illustris simulation with those in the real Universe.

Science.gov (United States)

Dickinson, Hugh; Lintott, Chris; Scarlata, Claudia; Fortson, Lucy; Bamford, Steven; Cardamone, Carolin; Keel, William C.; Kruk, Sandor; Masters, Karen; Simmons, Brooke D.; Vogelsberger, Mark; Torrey, Paul; Snyder, Gregory; Galaxy Zoo Science Team

2018-01-01

We present a comparision between the Illustris simulations and classifications from Galaxy Zoo, aiming to test the ability of modern large-scale cosmological simulations to accurately reproduce the local galaxy population. This comparison is enabled by the increasingly high spatial and temporal resolution obtained by such surveys.Using classifications that were accumulated via the Galaxy Zoo citizen science interface, we compare the visual morphologies for simulated images of Illustris galaxies with a compatible sample of images drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Legacy Survey.For simulated galaxies with stellar masses less than 1011 M⊙, significant differences are identified, which are most likely due to the limited resolution of the simulation, but could be revealing real differences in the dynamical evolution of populations of galaxies in the real and model universes. Above 1011 M⊙, Illustris galaxy morphologies correspond better with those of their SDSS counterparts, although even in this mass range the simulation appears to underproduce obviously disk-like galaxies. Morphologies of Illustris galaxies less massive than 1011 M⊙ should be treated with care.

The physical properties of Lyα emitting galaxies: not just primeval galaxies?

Science.gov (United States)

Pentericci, L.; Grazian, A.; Fontana, A.; Castellano, M.; Giallongo, E.; Salimbeni, S.; Santini, P.

2009-02-01

Aims: We have analyzed a sample of Lyman break galaxies from z ~ 3.5 to z ~ 6 selected from the GOODS-S field as B, V, and i-dropouts, and with spectroscopic observations showing that they have the Lyα line in emission. Our main aim is to investigate their physical properties and their dependence on the emission line characteristic and to shed light on the relation between galaxies with Lyα emission and the general LBG population. Methods: The objects were selected from their optical continuum colors and then spectroscopically confirmed by the GOODS collaboration and other campaigns. From the public spectra we derived the main properties of the Lyα emission such as total flux and rest frame EW. We then used complete photometry, from U band to mid-infrared from the GOODS-MUSIC database, and through standard spectro-photometric techniques we derived the physical properties of the galaxies, such as total stellar mass, stellar ages, star formation rates, and dust content. Finally we investigated the relation between emission line and physical properties. Results: Although most galaxies are fit by young stellar populations, a small but non negligible fraction has SEDs that cannot be represented well by young models and require considerably older stellar component, up to ~1 Gyr. There is no apparent relation between age and EW: some of the oldest galaxies have high line EW, and should be also selected in narrow-band surveys. Therefore not all Lyα emitting galaxies are primeval galaxies in the very early stages of formation, as is commonly assumed. We also find a range of stellar populations, with masses from 5 × 108 M_⊙ to 5 × 1010 M_⊙ and SFR from few to 60 M_⊙ yr-1. Although there is no net correlation between mass and EW, we find a significant lack of massive galaxies with high EW, which could be explained if the most massive galaxies were either dustier and/or if they contained more neutral gas than less massive objects. Finally we find that more than

The galaxy ancestor problem

Science.gov (United States)

Disney, M. J.; Lang, R. H.

2012-11-01

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) findsgalaxies whose Tolman dimming exceeds 10 mag. Could evolution alone explain these as our ancestor galaxies or could they be representatives of quite a different dynasty whose descendants are no longer prominent today? We explore the latter hypothesis and argue that surface brightness selection effects naturally bring into focus quite different dynasties from different redshifts. Thus, the HST z = 7 galaxies could be examples of galaxies whose descendants are both too small and too choked with dust to be recognizable in our neighbourhood easily today. Conversely, the ancestors of the Milky Way and its obvious neighbours would have completely sunk below the sky at z > 1.2, unless they were more luminous in the past, although their diffused light could account for the missing re-ionization flux. This Succeeding Prominent Dynasties Hypothesis (SPDH) fits the existing observations both naturally and well even without evolution, including the bizarre distributions of galaxy surface brightness found in deep fields, the angular size ˜(1 + z)-1 law, 'downsizing' which turns out to be an 'illusion' in the sense that it does not imply evolution, 'infant mortality', that is, the discrepancy between stars born and stars seen, the existence of 'red nuggets', and finally the recently discovered and unexpected excess of quasar absorption line damped Lyα systems at high redshift. If galaxies were not significantly brighter in the past and the SPDH were true, then a large proportion of galaxies could remain sunk from sight, possibly at all redshifts, and these sunken galaxies could supply the missing re-ionization flux. We show that fishing these sunken galaxies out of the sky by their optical emissions alone is practically impossible, even when they are nearby. More ingenious methods are needed to detect them. It follows that disentangling galaxy evolution through studying ever higher redshift galaxies may be a forlorn hope because one could

Stellar Populations of over 1000 z ∼ 0.8 Galaxies from LEGA-C: Ages and Star Formation Histories from D n 4000 and Hδ

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Po-Feng; van der Wel, Arjen; Gallazzi, Anna; Bezanson, Rachel; Pacifici, Camilla; Straatman, Caroline; Franx, Marijn; Barišić, Ivana; Bell, Eric F.; Brammer, Gabriel B.; Calhau, Joao; Chauke, Priscilla; van Houdt, Josha; Maseda, Michael V.; Muzzin, Adam; Rix, Hans-Walter; Sobral, David; Spilker, Justin; van de Sande, Jesse; van Dokkum, Pieter; Wild, Vivienne

2018-03-01

Drawing from the LEGA-C data set, we present the spectroscopic view of the stellar population across a large volume- and mass-selected sample of galaxies at large look-back time. We measure the 4000 Å break (D n 4000) and Balmer absorption line strengths (probed by Hδ) from 1019 high-quality spectra of z = 0.6–1.0 galaxies with M * = 2 × 1010 M ⊙ to 3 × 1011 M ⊙. Our analysis serves as a first illustration of the power of high-resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio continuum spectroscopy at intermediate redshifts as a qualitatively new tool to constrain galaxy formation models. The observed D n 4000–EW(Hδ) distribution of our sample overlaps with the distribution traced by present-day galaxies, but z ∼ 0.8 galaxies populate that locus in a fundamentally different manner. While old galaxies dominate the present-day population at all stellar masses >2 × 1010 M ⊙, we see a bimodal D n 4000–EW(Hδ) distribution at z ∼ 0.8, implying a bimodal light-weighted age distribution. The light-weighted age depends strongly on stellar mass, with the most massive galaxies >1 × 1011 M ⊙ being almost all older than 2 Gyr. At the same time, we estimate that galaxies in this high-mass range are only ∼3 Gyr younger than their z ∼ 0.1 counterparts, at odds with purely passive evolution given a difference in look-back time of >5 Gyr; younger galaxies must grow to >1011 M ⊙ in the meantime, or small amounts of young stars must keep the light-weighted ages young. Star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 0.8 have stronger Hδ absorption than present-day galaxies with the same D n 4000, implying larger short-term variations in star formation activity.

Analysis of WFCAM images of M33 galaxy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Najme Golabtooni

2014-03-01

Full Text Available In this study, 1200 images and catalogues of M33 spiral galaxy taken by WFCAM camera at UKIRT telescope in J, H and K bands. Cross correlation methods were employed to identify stars in overlapping regions from among images taken in different dates. Careful astrometric and photometric analysis was made to calibrate stellar positions and magnitudes using their 2MASS near infra red survey. The final catalogue consisted of 445303 stars and covered more than 0.75 square degrees of sky centered on M33 core, which included the bulge and spiral arms. This is the biggest catalogue ever made from a nearby spiral galaxy in near infrared. A color magnitude diagram in near infrared was plotted, which shows a bunch of very red stars that extended to J-K = 4.

A Photometrically Detected Forming Cluster of Galaxies at Redshift 1.6 in the GOODS Field

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Castellano, M.; Salimbeni, S.; Trevese, D.; Grazian, A.; Pentericci, L.; Fiore, F.; Fontana, A.; Giallongo, E.; Santini, P.; Cristiani, S.; Nonino, M.; Vanzella, E.

2007-12-01

We report the discovery of a localized overdensity at z~1.6 in the GOODS-South field, presumably a poor cluster in the process of formation. The three-dimensional galaxy density has been estimated on the basis of well-calibrated photometric redshifts from the multiband photometric GOODS-MUSIC catalog using the (2+1)-dimensional technique. The density peak is embedded in the larger scale overdensity of galaxies known to exist at z=1.61 in the area. The properties of the member galaxies are compared to those of the surrounding field, and we find that the two populations are significantly different, supporting the reality of the structure. The reddest galaxies, once evolved according to their best-fit models, have colors consistent with the red sequence of lower redshift clusters. The estimated M200 total mass of the cluster is in the range 1.3×1014-5.7×1014 Msolar, depending on the assumed bias factor b. An upper limit for the 2-10 keV X-ray luminosity, based on the 1 Ms Chandra observations, is LX=0.5×1043 erg s-1, suggesting that the cluster has not yet reached the virial equilibrium.

ULTRAVIOLET COLOR-COLOR RELATION OF EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES AT 0.05 < z < 0.12

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ree, Chang H.; Jeong, Hyunjin; Lee, Joon Hyeop; Kim, Sang Chul; Kyeong, Jaemann; Oh, Kyuseok; Chung, Chul

2012-01-01

We present the ultraviolet (UV) color-color relation of early-type galaxies (ETGs) in the nearby universe (0.05 < z < 0.12) to investigate the properties of hot stellar populations responsible for the UV excess (UVX). The initial sample of ETGs is selected by the spectroscopic redshift and the morphology parameter from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7, and then cross-matched with the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) far-UV (FUV) and near-UV (NUV) GR6 data. The cross-matched ETG sample is further classified by their emission line characteristics in the optical spectra into quiescent, star-forming, and active galactic nucleus categories. Contaminations from early-type spiral galaxies, mergers, and morphologically disturbed galaxies are removed by visual inspection. By drawing the FUV-NUV (as a measure of UV spectral shape) versus FUV – r (as a measure of UVX strength) diagram for the final sample of ∼3700 quiescent ETGs, we find that the 'old and dead' ETGs consist of a well-defined sequence in UV colors, the 'UV red sequence', so that the stronger UVX galaxies should have a harder UV spectral shape systematically. However, the observed UV spectral slope is too steep to be reproduced by the canonical stellar population models in which the UV flux is mainly controlled by age or metallicity parameters. Moreover, 2 mag of color spreads both in FUV-NUV and FUV – r appear to be ubiquitous among any subsets in distance or luminosity. This implies that the UVX in ETGs could be driven by yet another parameter which might be even more influential than age or metallicity.

Galaxy collisions as a mechanism of ultra diffuse galaxy (UDG) formation

Science.gov (United States)

Baushev, A. N.

2018-04-01

We suggest a possible mechanism of ultra diffuse galaxy formation: the UDGs may occur as a result of a central collision of galaxies. If the galaxies are young and contain a lot of gas, the collision may kick all the gas off the systems and thus strongly suppress any further star formation. As a result, the galaxies now have a very low surface brightness and other properties typical of the ultra diffuse galaxies. We use the Coma cluster (where numerous UDGs were recently discovered) to test the efficiency of the process. The mechanism works very well and can transform a significant fraction of the cluster population into ultra diffuse galaxies. The UDGs formed by the process concentrate towards the center of the cluster, and their globular cluster systems remain undamaged, in accordance with observational results. The projected surface density of UDGs in the cluster may help us to recognize the mechanism of UDG formation, or clarify relative contributions of several possible competitive mechanisms at work.

Genetic differentiation in red-bellied piranha populations (Pygocentrus nattereri, Kner, 1858) from the Solimões-Amazonas River.

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Dos Santos, Carlos Henrique Dos A; de Sá Leitão, Carolina S; Paula-Silva, Maria de N; Almeida-Val, Vera Maria F

2016-06-01

Red-bellied piranhas (Pygocentrus nattereri) are widely caught with different intensities throughout the region of Solimões-Amazonas River by local fishermen. Thus, the management of this resource is performed in the absence of any information on its genetic stock. P. nattereri is a voracious predator and widely distributed in the Neotropical region, and it is found in other regions of American continent. However, information about genetic variability and structure of wild populations of red-bellied piranha is unavailable. Here, we describe the levels of genetic diversity and genetic structure of red-bellied piranha populations collected at different locations of Solimões-Amazonas River system. We collected 234 red-bellied piranhas and analyzed throughout eight microsatellite markers. We identified high genetic diversity within populations, although the populations of lakes ANA, ARA, and MAR have shown some decrease in their genetic variability, indicating overfishing at these communities. Was identified the existence of two biological populations when the analysis was taken altogether at the lakes of Solimões-Amazonas River system, with significant genetic differentiation between them. The red-bellied piranha populations presented limited gene flow between two groups of populations, which were explained by geographical distance between these lakes. However, high level of gene flow was observed between the lakes within of the biological populations. We have identified high divergence between the Catalão subpopulation and all other subpopulations. We suggest the creation of sustainable reserve for lakes near the city of Manaus to better manage and protect this species, whose populations suffer from both extractive and sport fishing.

Galaxies Gather at Great Distances

Science.gov (United States)

2006-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Distant Galaxy Cluster Infrared Survey Poster [figure removed for brevity, see original site] [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Bird's Eye View Mosaic Bird's Eye View Mosaic with Clusters [figure removed for brevity, see original site] [figure removed for brevity, see original site] [figure removed for brevity, see original site] 9.1 Billion Light-Years 8.7 Billion Light-Years 8.6 Billion Light-Years Astronomers have discovered nearly 300 galaxy clusters and groups, including almost 100 located 8 to 10 billion light-years away, using the space-based Spitzer Space Telescope and the ground-based Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, Ariz. The new sample represents a six-fold increase in the number of known galaxy clusters and groups at such extreme distances, and will allow astronomers to systematically study massive galaxies two-thirds of the way back to the Big Bang. A mosaic portraying a bird's eye view of the field in which the distant clusters were found is shown at upper left. It spans a region of sky 40 times larger than that covered by the full moon as seen from Earth. Thousands of individual images from Spitzer's infrared array camera instrument were stitched together to create this mosaic. The distant clusters are marked with orange dots. Close-up images of three of the distant galaxy clusters are shown in the adjoining panels. The clusters appear as a concentration of red dots near the center of each image. These images reveal the galaxies as they were over 8 billion years ago, since that's how long their light took to reach Earth and Spitzer's infrared eyes. These pictures are false-color composites, combining ground-based optical images captured by the Mosaic-I camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak, with infrared pictures taken by Spitzer's infrared array camera. Blue and green represent visible light at wavelengths of 0.4 microns and 0.8 microns

Galaxy Zoo: dust in spiral galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Masters, Karen L.; Nichol, Robert; Bamford, Steven; Mosleh, Moein; Lintott, Chris J.; Andreescu, Dan; Edmondson, Edward M.; Keel, William C.; Murray, Phil; Raddick, M. Jordan; Schawinski, Kevin; Slosar, Anže; Szalay, Alexander S.; Thomas, Daniel; Vandenberg, Jan

2010-05-01

We investigate the effect of dust on spiral galaxies by measuring the inclination dependence of optical colours for 24276 well-resolved Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) galaxies visually classified via the Galaxy Zoo project. We find clear trends of reddening with inclination which imply a total extinction from face-on to edge-on of 0.7, 0.6, 0.5 and 0.4mag for the ugri passbands (estimating 0.3mag of extinction in z band). We split the sample into `bulgy' (early-type) and `discy' (late-type) spirals using the SDSS fracdeV (or fDeV) parameter and show that the average face-on colour of `bulgy' spirals is redder than the average edge-on colour of `discy' spirals. This shows that the observed optical colour of a spiral galaxy is determined almost equally by the spiral type (via the bulge-disc ratio and stellar populations), and reddening due to dust. We find that both luminosity and spiral type affect the total amount of extinction, with discy spirals at Mr ~ -21.5mag having the most reddening - more than twice as much as both the lowest luminosity and most massive, bulge-dominated spirals. An increase in dust content is well known for more luminous galaxies, but the decrease of the trend for the most luminous has not been observed before and may be related to their lower levels of recent star formation. We compare our results with the latest dust attenuation models of Tuffs et al. We find that the model reproduces the observed trends reasonably well but overpredicts the amount of u-band attenuation in edge-on galaxies. This could be an inadequacy in the Milky Way extinction law (when applied to external galaxies), but more likely indicates the need for a wider range of dust-star geometries. We end by discussing the effects of dust on large galaxy surveys and emphasize that these effects will become important as we push to higher precision measurements of galaxy properties and their clustering. This publication has been made possible by the participation of more than