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Circumnuclear Structure and Black Hole Fueling: Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS Imaging of 250 Active and Normal Galaxies
Why are the nuclei of some galaxies more active than others? If mostgalaxies harbor a central massive black hole, the main difference isprobably in how well it is fueled by its surroundings. We investigatethe hypothesis that such a difference can be seen in the detailedcircumnuclear morphologies of galaxies using several quantitativelydefined features, including bars, isophotal twists, boxy and diskyisophotes, and strong nonaxisymmetric features in unsharp-masked images.These diagnostics are applied to 250 high-resolution images of galaxycenters obtained in the near-infrared with NICMOS on the Hubble SpaceTelescope. To guard against the influence of possible biases andselection effects, we have carefully matched samples of Seyfert 1,Seyfert 2, LINER, starburst, and normal galaxies in their basicproperties, taking particular care to ensure that each was observed witha similar average scale (10-15 pc pixel-1). Severalmorphological differences among our five different spectroscopicclassifications emerge from the analysis. The H II/starburst galaxiesshow the strongest deviations from smooth elliptical isophotes, whilethe normal galaxies and LINERs have the least disturbed morphology. TheSeyfert 2s have significantly more twisted isophotes than any othercategory, and the early-type Seyfert 2s are significantly more disturbedthan the early-type Seyfert 1s. The morphological differences betweenSeyfert 1s and Seyfert 2s suggest that more is at work than simply theviewing angle of the central engine. They may correspond to differentevolutionary stages.
| The ISOPHOT 170 μm Serendipity Survey II. The catalog of optically identified galaxies%
The ISOPHOT Serendipity Sky Survey strip-scanning measurements covering≈15% of the far-infrared (FIR) sky at 170 μm were searched forcompact sources associated with optically identified galaxies. CompactSerendipity Survey sources with a high signal-to-noise ratio in at leasttwo ISOPHOT C200 detector pixels were selected that have a positionalassociation with a galaxy identification in the NED and/or Simbaddatabases and a galaxy counterpart visible on the Digitized Sky Surveyplates. A catalog with 170 μm fluxes for more than 1900 galaxies hasbeen established, 200 of which were measured several times. The faintest170 μm fluxes reach values just below 0.5 Jy, while the brightest,already somewhat extended galaxies have fluxes up to ≈600 Jy. For thevast majority of listed galaxies, the 170 μm fluxes were measured forthe first time. While most of the galaxies are spirals, about 70 of thesources are classified as ellipticals or lenticulars. This is the onlycurrently available large-scale galaxy catalog containing a sufficientnumber of sources with 170 μm fluxes to allow further statisticalstudies of various FIR properties.Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project with instruments fundedby ESA Member States (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, TheNetherlands and the UK) and with the participation of ISAS and NASA.Members of the Consortium on the ISOPHOT Serendipity Survey (CISS) areMPIA Heidelberg, ESA ISO SOC Villafranca, AIP Potsdam, IPAC Pasadena,Imperial College London.Full Table 4 and Table 6 are only available in electronic form at theCDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/422/39
| Companions of Bright Barred Shapley-Ames Galaxies
Companion galaxy environment for a subset of 78 bright and nearby barredgalaxies from the Shapley-Ames Catalog is presented. Among the spiralbarred galaxies, there are Seyfert galaxies, galaxies with circumnuclearstructures, galaxies not associated with any large-scale galaxy cloudstructure, galaxies with peculiar disk morphology (crooked arms), andgalaxies with normal disk morphology; the list includes all Hubbletypes. The companion galaxy list includes the number of companiongalaxies within 20 diameters, their Hubble type, and projectedseparation distance. In addition, the companion environment was searchedfor four known active spiral galaxies, three of them are Seyfertgalaxies, namely, NGC 1068, NGC 1097, and NGC 5548, and one is astarburst galaxy, M82. Among the results obtained, it is noted that theonly spiral barred galaxy classified as Seyfert 1 in our list has nocompanions within a projected distance of 20 diameters; six out of 10Seyfert 2 bar galaxies have no companions within 10 diameters, six outof 10 Seyfert 2 galaxies have one or more companions at projectedseparation distances between 10 and 20 diameters; six out of 12 galaxieswith circumnuclear structures have two or more companions within 20diameters.
| The IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy Sample
IRAS flux densities, redshifts, and infrared luminosities are reportedfor all sources identified in the IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy Sample(RBGS), a complete flux-limited survey of all extragalactic objects withtotal 60 μm flux density greater than 5.24 Jy, covering the entiresky surveyed by IRAS at Galactic latitudes |b|>5°. The RBGS includes629 objects, with median and mean sample redshifts of 0.0082 and 0.0126,respectively, and a maximum redshift of 0.0876. The RBGS supersedes theprevious two-part IRAS Bright Galaxy Samples(BGS1+BGS2), which were compiled before the final(Pass 3) calibration of the IRAS Level 1 Archive in 1990 May. The RBGSalso makes use of more accurate and consistent automated methods tomeasure the flux of objects with extended emission. The RBGS contains 39objects that were not present in the BGS1+BGS2,and 28 objects from the BGS1+BGS2 have beendropped from RBGS because their revised 60 μm flux densities are notgreater than 5.24 Jy. Comparison of revised flux measurements forsources in both surveys shows that most flux differences are in therange ~5%-25%, although some faint sources at 12 and 25 μm differ byas much as a factor of 2. Basic properties of the RBGS sources aresummarized, including estimated total infrared luminosities, as well asupdates to cross identifications with sources from optical galaxycatalogs established using the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Inaddition, an atlas of images from the Digitized Sky Survey with overlaysof the IRAS position uncertainty ellipse and annotated scale bars isprovided for ease in visualizing the optical morphology in context withthe angular and metric size of each object. The revised bolometricinfrared luminosity function, φ(Lir), forinfrared-bright galaxies in the local universe remains best fit by adouble power law, φ(L)~Lα, withα=-0.6(+/-0.1) and α=-2.2(+/-0.1) below and above the``characteristic'' infrared luminosityL*ir~1010.5Lsolar,respectively. A companion paper provides IRAS High Resolution (HIRES)processing of over 100 RBGS sources where improved spatial resolutionoften provides better IRAS source positions or allows for deconvolutionof close galaxy pairs.
| The far-infrared/radio correlation in the ISO era. The warm and cold far-infrared/radio correlations
We present the correlation between the far-infrared (FIR) and radioemissions from a composite sample of 72 nearby normal galaxies observedwith the ISOPHOT instrument on board the Infrared Space Observatory. Thegalaxies in the sample have measurements at three FIR wavelengths (60,100 and 170 mu m), which allowed a direct determination of the warm andcold FIR emission components. This is the first time that thecorrelation has been established for the total FIR luminosity, of whichmost is carried by the cold dust component predominantly emittinglongwards of the spectral coverage of IRAS. The slope of thiscorrelation is slightly non-linear (1.10+/- 0.03). Separate correlationsbetween the warm and cold FIR emission components and the radio emissionhave also been derived. The slope of the warm FIR/radio correlation wasfound to be linear (1.03 +/- 0.03). For the cold FIR/radio correlationwe found a slightly non-linear (1.13 +/- 0.04) slope. We qualitativelyinterpret the correlations in terms of star formation rate and find thatboth the FIR and radio emissions may be consistent with a non-lineardependence on star formation rate for galaxies not undergoing starburstactivity.Based on observations with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), an ESAproject with instruments funded by ESA member States (especially the PIcountries: France, Germany, The Netherlands, and the UK) and with theparticipation of ISAS and NASA.Table \ref{Tab2} and Appendices A and B are only available in electronicform at http://www.edpsciences.org
| Bar Galaxies and Their Environments
The prints of the Palomar Sky Survey, luminosity classifications, andradial velocities were used to assign all northern Shapley-Ames galaxiesto either (1) field, (2) group, or (3) cluster environments. Thisinformation for 930 galaxies shows no evidence for a dependence of barfrequency on galaxy environment. This suggests that the formation of abar in a disk galaxy is mainly determined by the properties of theparent galaxy, rather than by the characteristics of its environment.
| Disc scalelengths of non-active and active spiral galaxies
Disc scalelengths rD are determined for a sample of 32non-active and 28 active spiral galaxies from optical CCD images. For 21of the 32 non-active galaxies and 20 of the 28 active galaxies B, V, Rand I data have been obtained, while for the remaining galaxies only Band I images have been taken. For 18 of the 21 non-active galaxies,which are measured in all four passbands, rD decreasessystematically from B to I, whereas such a decrease is found for onlyfour of the 20 active galaxies with BVRI data. For the non-activegalaxies, the ratios rD(B)/rD(I),rD(V)/rD(I) and rD(R)/rD(I)increase systematically with increasing apparent ellipticity ɛof the galaxies. For the active galaxies, no systematic variation of anyof the ratios with increasing ɛ is found. The variation ofrD(B)/rD(I) with ɛ is compared with modelcalculations. For the non-active galaxies, the data are represented bestby a model with a stellar disc that has an intrinsic colour gradient andwith a central optical depth in the B band for face-on view ofτ0B=3. For the active galaxies, the best agreement between data andmodels is found for models with a stellar disc with no intrinsic colourgradient and no dust. The best-fitting model for the non-active galaxiesdoes not reproduce the data of the active galaxies. The main conclusionof this work is that structural differences seem to exist between thediscs of non-active and active galaxies. The non-active galaxies showsignificant colour gradients within their discs, whereas the activegalaxies do not. These gradients are probably caused by a combination ofan intrinsic colour gradient within the stellar disc, and dustextinction. Furthermore, the measurements indicate that the non-activegalaxies show significant dust extinction in the centre, but they areoptically thin in the outer regions. The active galaxies do not seem tohave intrinsic colour gradients within the stellar disc and they areoptically thin throughout the disc.
| Spectral analysis of the nuclear stellar population and gas emission in six nearby galaxies
Optical spectra were used to study the stellar population and gasemission, when present, in the central parts of the elliptical galaxiesNGC 6958, NGC 6851 and ESO 185-G54, and the spiral galaxies NGC 5757,NGC 7412 and IC 4214. Stellar population properties were derived bycomparing the equivalent widths of the absorption lines with those ofgalaxy templates built from star clusters, as well as by applying amethod of stellar population synthesis based on the same star clusters.For the galaxies with emission lines, the underlying stellar populationwas subtracted to obtain the pure emission spectrum, and the resultingemission line intensities were measured to determine the mechanismresponsible for the gas excitation. From this analysis we concluded thatthe galaxies have solar metallicity except the elliptical ESO 185-G54that reached metallicity slightly above solar. The three ellipticals andthe Sa galaxy IC 4214 have their nuclei dominated by old stellarpopulations, although IC 4214 appears to have some contribution from theyoung generation stars. Recent star formation (t < 500 Myr) isprominent in the nucleus of the SBb galaxy NGC 5757, and is also presentto a lesser degree in the Sbc NGC 7412. In these two galaxies, therecent star formation is responsible for the observed H Ii type emissionlines, while IC 4214 has LINER emission. Among the ellipticals, only inNGC 6958 did we detect ionized gas, whose spectra is typical of LINERs.Based on observations made at the Observatório do Pico dos Dias,CNPq/Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica, Brazil.
| Nearby Optical Galaxies: Selection of the Sample and Identification of Groups
In this paper we describe the Nearby Optical Galaxy (NOG) sample, whichis a complete, distance-limited (cz<=6000 km s-1) andmagnitude-limited (B<=14) sample of ~7000 optical galaxies. Thesample covers 2/3 (8.27 sr) of the sky (|b|>20deg) andappears to have a good completeness in redshift (97%). We select thesample on the basis of homogenized corrected total blue magnitudes inorder to minimize systematic effects in galaxy sampling. We identify thegroups in this sample by means of both the hierarchical and thepercolation ``friends-of-friends'' methods. The resulting catalogs ofloose groups appear to be similar and are among the largest catalogs ofgroups currently available. Most of the NOG galaxies (~60%) are found tobe members of galaxy pairs (~580 pairs for a total of ~15% of objects)or groups with at least three members (~500 groups for a total of ~45%of objects). About 40% of galaxies are left ungrouped (field galaxies).We illustrate the main features of the NOG galaxy distribution. Comparedto previous optical and IRAS galaxy samples, the NOG provides a densersampling of the galaxy distribution in the nearby universe. Given itslarge sky coverage, the identification of groups, and its high-densitysampling, the NOG is suited to the analysis of the galaxy density fieldof the nearby universe, especially on small scales.
| The ISOPHOT 170 μ m serendipity survey. I. Compact sources with galaxy associations
The first set of compact sources observed in the ISOPHOT 170 μmSerendipity Survey is presented. From the slew data with low(I100 μm <= 15 MJy/sr) cirrus background, 115well-observed sources with a high signal-to-noise ratio in all detectorpixels having a galaxy association were extracted. Of the galaxies withknown optical morphologies, the vast majority are classified as spirals,barred spirals, or irregulars. The 170 μm fluxes measured from theSerendipity slews have been put on an absolute flux level by usingcalibration sources observed additionally with the photometric mappingmode of ISOPHOT. For all but a few galaxies, the 170 μm fluxes aredetermined for the first time, which represents a significant increasein the number of galaxies with measured Far-Infrared (FIR) fluxes beyondthe IRAS 100 μm limit. The 170 μm fluxes cover the range 2 <~F170 μm la 100 Jy. Formulae for the integrated FIR fluxesF40-220μm and the total infrared fluxesF1-1000μm incorporating the new 170 μm fluxes areprovided. The large fraction of sources with a high F170μm / F100 μm flux ratio indicates that a cold(TDust la 20 K) dust component is present in many galaxies.The detection of such a cold dust component is crucial for thedetermination of the total dust mass in galaxies, and, in cases with alarge F170 μm / F100 μm flux ratio,increases the dust mass by a significant factor. The typical mass of thecoldest dust component is MDust = 107.5 +/- 0.5Msun , a factor 2-10 larger than that derived from IRASfluxes alone. As a consequence, the majority of the derived gas-to-dustratios are much closer to the canonical value of ~ 160 for the MilkyWay. By relaxing the selection criteria, it is expected that theSerendipity Survey will eventually lead to a catalog of 170 μm fluxesfor ~ 1000 galaxies. Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project withinstruments funded by ESA Member States (especially the PI countries:France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) and with theparticipation of ISAS and NASA. Members of the Consortium on the ISOPHOTSerendipity Survey (CISS) are MPIA Heidelberg, ESA ISO SOC Villafranca,AIP Potsdam, IPAC Pasadena, Imperial College London.
| Optical Spectroscopy of the Central Regions of Bright Barred Spiral Galaxies
Optical red spectra of a set of 18 bright barred spiral galaxies arepresented. The study is aimed at determining the local kinematics, andthe physical conditions of ionized gas in the compact nucleus (inside adiameter of 5") and in the circumnuclear regions (inside a diameter of20"). Only 8 galaxies showed bright emission from their east and westside of the nucleus. The spectrum of each region was analizedseparately. In other 10 galaxies the line emission was so weak that wewere only able to obtain an average spectrum of the central emission. Noemission was detected in the remaining 8 galaxies. An estimate of thedynamical mass is presented based on the observed velocities in thecircumnuclear regions. In NGC 4314 and NGC 6951, that show H_alphaemission distributed in circumnuclear ring structures, we determine the[NII]/H_alpha and [SII]/H_alpha ratios for the eastern and westernregions of the rings. The velocity difference for the two sides is usedto derive the rotation velocity of the gas around the compact nucleus.The ratio [NII]6583/H_alpha is a factor of 2 larger in the compactnucleus of NGC 6951 than in its western side. The electron gas densitieshave been estimated from the [SII] lines ratio.
| A Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Survey of Nearby Active Galactic Nuclei
We have obtained WFPC2 images of 256 of the nearest (z <= 0.035)Seyfert 1, Seyfert 2, and starburst galaxies. Our 500 s broadband(F606W) exposures reveal much fine-scale structure in the centers ofthese galaxies, including dust lanes and patches, bars, rings, wisps,and filaments, and tidal features such as warps and tails. Most of thisfine structure cannot be detected in ground-based images. We haveassigned qualitative classifications for these morphological featuresand a Hubble type for the inner region of each galaxy, and we have alsomeasured quantitative information such as 0."18 and 0."92 aperturemagnitudes, position angles, and ellipticities, where possible. There islittle direct evidence for unusually high rates of interaction in theSeyfert galaxies. Slightly less than 10% of all the galaxies show tidalfeatures or multiple nuclei. The incidence of inner starburst rings isabout 10% in both classes of Seyfert galaxies. In contrast, galaxieswith H II region emission-line spectra appear substantially moreirregular and clumpy because of their much higher rates of current starformation per unit of galactic mass. The presence of an unresolvedcentral continuum source in our Hubble Space Telescope images is avirtually perfect indicator of a Seyfert 1 nucleus as seen byground-based spectroscopy. Fifty-two percent of these Seyfert 1 pointsources are saturated in our images; we use their wings to estimatemagnitudes ranging from 15.8 to 18.5. The converse is not universallytrue, however, as over one-third of Seyferts with direct spectroscopicevidence for broad Balmer wings show no nuclear point source. These 34resolved Seyfert 1's have fainter nonstellar nuclei, which appear to bemore extinguished by dust absorption. Like the Seyfert 2's, they havecentral surface brightnesses consistent with those expected for thebulges of normal galaxies. The rates for the occurrences of bars inSeyfert 1's and 2's and non-Seyferts are the same. We found onesignificant morphological difference between the host galaxies ofSeyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 nuclei. The Seyfert 2 galaxies are significantlymore likely to show nuclear dust absorption, especially in lanes andpatches that are irregular or reach close to the nucleus. A few simpletests show that the difference cannot be explained by different averageredshifts or selection techniques. It is confirmed by our galaxymorphology classifications, which show that Seyfert 1 nuclei reside inearlier type galaxies than Seyfert 2 nuclei. If, as we believe, this isan intrinsic difference in host galaxy properties, it undermines one ofthe postulates of the strong unification hypothesis for Seyfertgalaxies, that they merely appear different because of the orientationof their central engine. The excess galactic dust we see in Seyfert 2'smay cause substantial absorption that obscures their hypothesized broademission line regions and central nonstellar continua. This galacticdust could produce much of the absorption in Seyfert 2 nuclei that hadinstead been attributed to a thick dusty accretion torus forming theouter part of the central engine.
| Bulge-Disk Decomposition of 659 Spiral and Lenticular Galaxy Brightness Profiles
We present one of the largest homogeneous sets of spiral and lenticulargalaxy brightness profile decompositions completed to date. The 659galaxies in our sample have been fitted with a de Vaucouleurs law forthe bulge component and an inner-truncated exponential for the diskcomponent. Of the 659 galaxies in the sample, 620 were successfullyfitted with the chosen fitting functions. The fits are generally welldefined, with more than 90% having rms deviations from the observedprofile of less than 0.35 mag. We find no correlations of fittingquality, as measured by these rms residuals, with either morphologicaltype or inclination. Similarly, the estimated errors of the fittedcoefficients show no significant trends with type or inclination. Thesedecompositions form a useful basis for the study of the lightdistributions of spiral and lenticular galaxies. The object base issufficiently large that well-defined samples of galaxies can be selectedfrom it.
| The Southern Sky Redshift Survey
We report redshifts, magnitudes, and morphological classifications for5369 galaxies with m_B <= 15.5 and for 57 galaxies fainter than thislimit, in two regions covering a total of 1.70 sr in the southerncelestial hemisphere. The galaxy catalog is drawn primarily from thelist of nonstellar objects identified in the Hubble Space TelescopeGuide Star Catalog (GSC). The galaxies have positions accurate to ~1"and magnitudes with an rms scatter of ~0.3 mag. We compute magnitudes(m_SSRS2) from the relation between instrumental GSC magnitudes and thephotometry by Lauberts & Valentijn. From a comparison with CCDphotometry, we find that our system is homogeneous across the sky andcorresponds to magnitudes measured at the isophotal level ~26 magarcsec^-2. The precision of the radial velocities is ~40 km s^-1, andthe redshift survey is more than 99% complete to the m_SSRS2 = 15.5 maglimit. This sample is in the direction opposite that of the CfA2; incombination the two surveys provide an important database for studies ofthe properties of galaxies and their large-scale distribution in thenearby universe. Based on observations obtained at Cerro TololoInter-American Observatory, National Optical Astronomy Observatories,operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy,Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation;Complejo Astronomico El Leoncito, operated under agreement between theConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas de laRepública Argentina and the National Universities of La Plata,Córdoba, and San Juan; the European Southern Observatory, LaSilla, Chile, partially under the bilateral ESO-ObservatórioNacional agreement; Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory;Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica, Brazil; and the SouthAfrican Astronomical Observatory.
| Kinematics of the local universe. VII. New 21-cm line measurements of 2112 galaxies
This paper presents 2112 new 21-cm neutral hydrogen line measurementscarried out with the meridian transit Nan\c cay radiotelescope. Amongthese data we give also 213 new radial velocities which complement thoselisted in three previous papers of this series. These new measurements,together with the HI data collected in LEDA, put to 6 700 the number ofgalaxies with 21-cm line width, radial velocity, and apparent diameterin the so-called KLUN sample. Figure 5 and Appendices A and B forcorresponding comments are available in electronic form at thehttp://www.edpsciences.com
| Total magnitude, radius, colour indices, colour gradients and photometric type of galaxies
We present a catalogue of aperture photometry of galaxies, in UBVRI,assembled from three different origins: (i) an update of the catalogueof Buta et al. (1995) (ii) published photometric profiles and (iii)aperture photometry performed on CCD images. We explored different setsof growth curves to fit these data: (i) The Sersic law, (ii) The net ofgrowth curves used for the preparation of the RC3 and (iii) A linearinterpolation between the de Vaucouleurs (r(1/4) ) and exponential laws.Finally we adopted the latter solution. Fitting these growth curves, wederive (1) the total magnitude, (2) the effective radius, (3) the colourindices and (4) gradients and (5) the photometric type of 5169 galaxies.The photometric type is defined to statistically match the revisedmorphologic type and parametrizes the shape of the growth curve. It iscoded from -9, for very concentrated galaxies, to +10, for diffusegalaxies. Based in part on observations collected at the Haute-ProvenceObservatory.
| Mid-Infrared Continuum of Starburst Nuclei: Contribution from Hot Large Grains within H II Regions?
The IRAS 12 and 25 mu m fluxes are compared with the Br gamma flux in asample of starburst nuclei. Good correlations are found between them.The subsequent analysis indicates the presence of two components in themid-infrared continuum: the nonthermal emission from "small grains"(<=100 A) which are heated transiently by nonionizing photons outsidethe H II regions and the thermal emission from "large grains" which areheated to ~140 K by ionizing, nonionizing, and Ly alpha photons insidethe H II regions. The small grains emitting at 12 mu m are depleted by~20% with respect to cirrus clouds in our Galaxy. The ratio of amountsof large grains to gas in the H II regions is comparable to the standardinterstellar value. The emission from hot large grains appears to bemore enhanced over the emission from small grains in starburst nucleiwith higher excitations.
| Lopsided Spiral Galaxies and a Limit on the Galaxy Accretion Rate
We present a measurement of lopsidedness for the stellar disks of 60field spiral galaxies in terms of the azimuthal m = 1 Fourier amplitude,A1, of the stellar light. We confirm the previous result (Rix &Zaritsky) that ~30% of field spiral galaxies in a magnitude-limitedsample exhibit significant lopsidedness ( >= 0.2) atlarge radii (R > 1.5 disk scalelengths). We conjecture that thislopsidedness is caused by tidal interactions and calculate an upperlimit on the accretion rate of small galaxies. We exploit thecorrelation between lopsidedness and photometric measures of recent starformation (Zaritsky) to obtain two independent estimates of the lifetimeof these m = 1 distortions. First, we show that lopsided galaxies havean excess of blue luminosity relative to that of symmetric galaxies withthe same H I linewidth, which we attribute to a recent star formationepisode that was triggered by an interaction between the galaxy and acompanion. We use stellar population models (Bruzual & Charlot) toestimate the time since that interaction. Second, we use the N-bodysimulation of an infalling satellite by Walker, Mihos, & Hernquistto estimate how fast tidally induced m = 1 distortions are erasedthrough phase mixing. Both approaches indicate that the observations areconsistent with a hypothesized tidal interaction that occurred about 1Gyr ago for galaxies that are lopsided at the 20% level. By combiningthis lifetime estimate for lopsidedness, the observed frequency of suchdistortions, and a correction to the survey volume that depends on theincrease in luminosity during an interaction, we derive an upper limiton the current companion accretion rate of field spiral galaxies (forcompanion masses ~10% parent galaxy mass) that lies in the range0.07--0.25 Gyr-1. The principal uncertainty in this limit arises fromambiguities in the interpretation of the correlation betweenlopsidedness and MB.
| Global Relationships Among the Physical Properties of Stellar Systems.
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1997AJ....114.1365B&db_key=AST
| BVRI and H(alpha) Surface Photometry of the Triple-Ringed Galaxy IC 4214
BVRI and Hα CCD surface photometry is presented for the Sab systemIC 4214, an example of a galaxy with three rings and no conventionalbar. We obtained isophote maps, luminosity profiles, and basicphotometric parameters. The photometry suggests the galaxy has threemajor structural components: the nuclear bulge, the disk, and anon-axisymmetric component that is a mixture of bar, inner ring andlens. The bar is a very weak feature that appears clearly only in the Iband. Even so, the non-axisymmetric component contributes 23% to thetotal I luminosity. The Hα emission is concentrated mostly in thenuclear ring and in the two spiral arms that form the inner ring. Boththe inner ring and nuclear ring are blue compared with theirsurroundings, and must contain regions of star formation mixed withdust. The existence of rings in non-barred and weakly barred galaxies isstill not well explained by theories of ring formation. This galaxyseems to be a case like others that have appeared in the literature,where the bar was stronger in the past, and now is dissolving.
| Scaleheights of 486 southern spiral galaxies and some statistical correlation
Based on Peng's method (1988), we obtain scaleheights of 486 southernspiral galaxies, the images of which are taken from the Digitized SkySurvey at Xinglong Station of Beijing Astronomical Observatory. Thefitted spiral arms of 70 galaxies are compared with their images to gettheir optimum inclinations. The scaleheights of other 416 ones arelisted in Table A1 in Appendix. After compiling and analyzing the data,we find some statistical correlations. The most interesting results arethat a flatter galaxy is bluer and looks brighter, and galaxies becomeflatter along the Hubble sequence Sab -- Scd. Based on photographic dataof the National Geographic Society -- Palomar Observatory Sky Survey(NGS-POSS) obtained using the Oschin Telescope Palomar Mountain. TheNGS-POSS was funded by a grant from the National Geographic Society tothe California Institute of Technology. The plates were processed intothe present compressed digital form with their permission. The DigitizedSky Survey was produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute underUS Government grant NAG W-2166. Table A1 is available in electronic fromonly, via anonymous ftp 130.79.128.5 orhttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Spatial Distribution of Ionized Gas in Bright Barred Spiral Galaxies: H(alpha) Images
Charged Coupled Detector (CCD) images of a set of 52 bright barredspiral galaxies in the narrow band filter H(alpha) and in the broadbandI filter are presented. The sample was selected from the Shapley AmesCatalog, with IRAS fluxes characteristic of star formation and a dusttemperature above Td greater than or equal to 25 K. The study is aimedat identifying the global distribution and the underlying symmetries ofthe structures of ionized gas in barred galaxies. Thirty-two galaxiespresent H(alpha) emission from the innermost central regions, but theemission from nuclear rings is observed only in ten galaxies. About halfof the observed galaxies show H(alpha) emission from several regions inthe disk, and 18 galaxies display emission from along the bar. TheH(alpha) emission from inner and outer rings are easily identified insome galaxies. Some other galaxies present more complicated spatialdistributions, probably due to tidal or direct encounters withneighboring galaxies.
| The bar-enhanced star-formation activities in spiral galaxies.
We use the ratio L_FIR_/L_B_ and the IRAS color index S_25_/S_12_ (bothwidely used as indices of relative star formation rates in galaxies) toanalyse subsets (containing no known AGNs or merging/interactinggalaxies) of: (a) the IRAS Bright Galaxy Sample, (b) galaxies from theoptically complete RSA sample which have IRAS detections in all fourbands, and (c) a volume-limited IR-unselected sample. We confirm thatIR-bright barred (SB) galaxies do, on average, have very significantlyhigher values of the FIR-optical and S_25_/S_12_ ratios (and presumably,higher relative star formation rates, SFR) than that do unbarred ones;the effect is most obvious in the IR colors. We also confirm that thesedifferences are confined to early-type (S0/a-Sbc) spirals and are notevident among late-type systems (Sc-Sdm). Unlike others, we see noenhancement of the SFR in weakly-barred (SAB) galaxies. We furtherconfirm that the effect of bars on the SFR is associated with therelative IR luminosity and show that it is detectable only in galaxieswith L_FIR_/L_B_>1/3, suggesting that as soon as they have anyeffect, bars translate their host galaxies into this relativelyIR-luminous group. Conversely, for galaxies with L_FIR_/L_B_ below ~0.1this luminosity ratio is lower among barred than unbarred systems, againconfirming and quantifying an earlier result. Although there is nosimple physical relation between H I content and star formation, astrong correlation of H I content with the presence of bars has beenfound for early-type spirals with L_FIR_/L_B_>1/3. This suggests thatthe availability of fuel is the factor determining just which galaxiesundergo bar-induced starbursts.
| The Catalog of Southern Ringed Galaxies
The Catalog of Southern Ringed Galaxies (CSRG) is a comprehensivecompilation of diameters, axis ratios, relative bar position angles, andmorphologies of inner and outer rings, pseudorings, and lenses in 3692galaxies south of declination -17 deg. The purpose of the catalog is toevaluate the idea that these ring phenomena are related to orbitalresonances with a bar or oval in galaxy potentials. The catalog is basedon visual inspection of most of the 606 fields of the Science ResearchCouncil (SRC) IIIa-J southern sky survey, with the ESO-B, ESO-R, andPalomar Sky surveys used as auxiliaries when needed for overexposed coreregions. The catalog is most complete for SRC fields 1-303 (mostly southof declination -42 deg). In addition to ringed galaxies, a list of 859mostly nonringed galaxies intended for comparison with other catalogs isprovided. Other findings from the CSRG that are not based on statisticsare the identification of intrinsic bar/ring misalignment; bars whichunderfill inner rings; dimpling of R'1pseudorings; pointy, rectangular, or hexagonal inner or outer ringshapes; a peculiar polar-ring-related system; and other extreme examplesof spiral structure and ring morphology.
| Total and effective colors of 501 galaxies in the Cousins VRI photometric system
Total color indices (V-R)T, (V-I)T and effectivecolor indices (V-R)e, (V-I)e in the Cousins VRIphotometric system are presented for 501 mostly normal galaxies. Thecolors are computed using a procedure outlined in the Third ReferenceCatalogue of Bright Galaxies (RC3) whereby standard color curvesapproximated by Laplace-Gauss integrals are fitted to observedphotoelectric multiaperture photometry. 11 sources of such photometrywere used for our analysis, each source being assigned an appropriateweight according to a rigorous analysis of residuals of the data fromthe best-fitting standard color curves. Together with the integrated B-Vand U-B colors provided in RC3, our analysis widens the range ofwavelength of homogeneously defined colors of normal galaxies of allHubble types. We present color-color and color-type relations that canbe modeled to understand the star formation history of galaxies.
| The nuclear 10 micron emission of spiral galaxies
We examine the 10 micrometer(s) emission of the central regions of 281spiral galaxies, after having compiled all ground-based, small-aperture(approximately 5 sec) broad-band photometric observations at lambdaapproximately 10 micrometer(s) (N magnitudes) published in theliterature. We evaluate the compactness of the approximately 10micrometer(s) emission of galaxy nuclei by comparing these small-beammeasures with the large-beam IRAS 12 micrometer(s) fluxes. In theanalysis of different subsets of objects, we apply survival analysistechniques in order to exploit the information contained in 'censored'data (i.e., upper limits on the fluxes). Seyfert galaxies are found tocontain the most powerful nuclear sources of mid-infrared emission,which in approximately one-third of the cases provide the bulk of theemission of the entire galaxy; thus, mid-infrared emission in the outerdisk regions is not uncommon in Seyfert galaxies. The 10 micrometer(s)emission of Seyfert galaxies appears to be unrelated to their X-rayemission. H II region-like nuclei are stronger mid-infrared sources thannormal nuclei and LINER nuclei (whose level of emission is notdistinguishable form that of normal nuclei). Interacting objects have,on average, greater 10 micrometer(s) luminosities than noninteractingones and exhibit more compact emission. Early-type spirals have strongerand more compact 10 micrometer(s) emisison than late-type ones. Barredspirals are brighter at approximately 10 micrometer(s) than unbarredsystems, essentially because they more frequently contain H IIretion-like nuclei. The results of our detailed comparison between thebehavior of various categories of objects stress that the 10micrometer(s) emission of spiral nuclei is closely linked to the(predominantly nonthermal synchrotron) radio emission.
| CCD calibration of the magnitude scale for the SSRS2 sample: The equatorial region
In this paper we continue our investigation on the isophotal nature,accuracy, and uniformity of the magnitude system adopted in the SouthernSky Redshift Survey extension (SSRS2). Extending our earlier work, weexamine galaxies in the equatorial region, primarily in the declinationrange delta greater than or equal to -17.5 deg and less than or equal to0 deg, over a large range of right ascension, covering the southern andnorthern Galactic caps. For this purpose, we have obtained CCD isophotalmagnitudes in the B and R bands for 265 galaxies of differentmorphological types. Using the larger sample we confirm our earlierclaim that the mSSRS2 magnitudes are very nearly themagnitude measured within the isophote muB = 26 mag/sqarcsec, with a dispersion of about 0.30 mag. The relative zero-pointoffset between our mSSRS2 magnitudes and the CCD photometryis -0.02 mag from all data we have obtained. However, we detect avariation of the zero-point across different regions of the sky of +/-0.10 mag for regions at large angular separations. We also estimate thatthe zero-point offset between the mSSRS2 and Zwicky systemsis relatively small (approximately 0.10 mag), which should allow us tocombine the data from the SSRS2 and the CfA2 Redshift Survey.
| The distribution of light in the barred spirals NGC 5757 and IC 1091
We made CCD surface photometry in B, V, R and I filters for two Sbbarred galaxies: NGC 5757 and IC 1091. We obtained isophotal maps,inclination, orientation, integrated magnitudes, and diameters. Wedetermined the luminosity and color profiles along the major and minoraxis of the bars, as well as azimuthal profiles, for which we madeFourier decompositions. The results showed that the two galaxies havecomparable dimensions, luminosity and global colors; the bars havesimilar stellar population and lengths, but are very different in shapeand strength. NGC 5757, which has a strong bar, presents traces ofrecent star formation at its center.
| The extended 12 micron galaxy sample
We have selected an all-sky (absolute value of b greater than or equalto 25 deg) 12 micron flux-limited sample of 893 galaxies from the IRASFaint Source Catalog, Version 2 (FSC-2). We have obtained accurate totalfluxes in the IRAS wavebands by using the ADDSCAN procedure for allobjects with FSC-2 12 micron fluxes greater than 0.15 Jy and increasingflux densities from 12 to 60 microns, and defined the sample by imposinga survey limit of 0.22 Jy on the total 12 micron flux. Its completenessis verified, by means of the classical log N - log S andV/Vmax tests, down to 0.30 Jy, below which we have measuredthe incompleteness down to the survey limit, using the log N - log Splot, for our statistical analysis. We have obtained redshifts (mostlyfrom catalogs) for virtually all (98.4%) the galaxies in the sample.Using existing catalogs of active galaxies, we defined a subsample of118 objects consisting of 53 Seyfert 1s and quasars, 63 Seyfert 2s, andtwo blazars (approximately 13% of the full sample), which is the largestunbiased sample of Seyfert galaxies ever assembled. Since the 12 micronflux has been shown to be about one-fifth of the bolometric flux forSeyfert galaxies and quasars, the subsample of Seyferts (includingquasars and blazars) is complete not only to 0.30 Jy at 12 microns butalso with respect to a bolometric flux limit of approximately 2.0 x10-10 ergs/s/sq cm. The average value of V/Vmaxfor the full sample, corrected for incompleteness at low fluxes, is 0.51+/- 0.04, expected for a complete sample of uniformly distributedgalaxies, while the value for the Seyfert galaxy subsample is 0.46 +/-0.10. We have derived 12 microns and far-infrared luminosity functionsfor the AGNs, as well as for the entire sample. We extracted from oursample a complete subsample of 235 galaxies flux-limited (8.3 Jy) at 60microns. The 60 micron luminosity function computed for this subsampleis in satisfactory agreement with the ones derived from the brightgalaxy sample (BGS) and the deep high-galactic latitude sample, bothselected at 60 microns.
| Origin of far-infrared emission in Seyfert and starburst galaxies
The origin of FIR emission in starburst nuclei (SBN) and AGN isdiscussed by means of correlation diagrams, alpha(25, 60) vs forbidden OI/H-alpha and alpha(25, 60) vs S(1)/Br-gamma. For the SBN, it was foundthat there are tight correlations between alpha(25, 60) and forbidden OI/H-alpha and between alpha(25, 60) and S(1)Br-gamma. Late-phase SBNexhibit steeper 25-60-micron slopes and larger forbidden O I/H-alpharatios than early-phase SBN. Thus the evolutionary stage of starburstactivity would be an important factor in determining the observed valuesof alpha(25, 60), forbidden O I/H-alpha, and S(1)/Br-gamma. For the AGN,it was found that they scatter widely in the diagrams of alpha(25, 60)vs forbidden O I/H-alpha and alpha(25, 60) vs S(1)Br-gamma. The FIRemission of ultraluminous IR galaxies is fueled by starbursts ratherthan by the nonthermal source. In some AGN, the 25-60-micron slope issteeper than in the SBN, suggesting a higher population of nonionizingstars.
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