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Environmental Effects on Late-Type Galaxies in Nearby Clusters
The transformations that take place in late-type galaxies in theenvironment of rich clusters of galaxies at z=0 are reviewed. From thehandful of late-type galaxies that inhabit local clusters, whether theywere formed in situ and survived as such, avoiding transformation oreven destruction, or if they are newcomers that have recently fallen infrom outside, we can learn an important lesson on the latest stages ofgalaxy evolution. We start by reviewing the observational scenario,covering the broadest possible stretch of the electromagnetic spectrum,from the gas tracers (radio and optical) to the star formation tracers(UV and optical), the old star tracers (near-IR), and the dust (far-IR).Strong emphasis is given to the three nearby, well-studied clustersVirgo, A1367, and Coma, which are representative of differentevolutionary stages, from unrelaxed and spiral-rich (Virgo) to relaxedand spiral-poor (Coma). We continue by providing a review of models ofgalaxy interactions that are relevant to clusters of galaxies.Prototypes of various mechanisms and processes are discussed, and theirtypical timescales are given in an appendix. Observations indicate thepresence of healthy late-type galaxies falling into nearby clustersindividually or as part of massive groups. More rare are infallinggalaxies belonging to compact groups, where significant preprocessingmight take place. Once they have entered the cluster, they lose theirgas and quench their star formation activity, becoming anemic.Observations and theory agree in indicating that the interaction withthe intergalactic medium is responsible for the gas depletion. However,this process cannot be the origin of the cluster lenticular galaxypopulation. Physical and statistical properties of S0 galaxies in nearbyclusters and at higher redshift indicate that they originate from spiralgalaxies that have been transformed by gravitational interactions.
| The effect of gravitational recoil on black holes forming in a hierarchical universe
Galactic bulges are known to harbour central black holes whose mass istightly correlated with the stellar mass and velocity dispersion of thebulge. In a hierarchical universe, galaxies are built up throughsuccessive mergers of subgalactic units, a process that is accompaniedby the amalgamation of bulges and the likely coalescence ofgalactocentric black holes. In these mergers, the beaming ofgravitational radiation during the plunge phase of the black holecollision can impart a linear momentum kick or `gravitational recoil' tothe remnant. If large enough, this kick will eject the remnant from thegalaxy entirely, and populate intergalactic space with wandering blackholes. Using a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation, we investigatethe effect of black hole ejections on the scatter of the relationbetween black hole and bulge mass. We find that while not being thedominant source of the measured scatter, they do provide a significantcontribution and may be used to set a constraint, vkick<~500kms-1, on the typical kick velocity, in agreement withvalues found from general relativistic calculations. Even for the moremodest kick velocities implied by these calculations, we find that asubstantial number of central black holes are ejected from theprogenitors of present-day galaxies, giving rise to a population ofwandering intrahalo and intergalactic black holes whose distribution weinvestigate in high-resolution N-body simulations of the Milk Way masshaloes. We find that intergalactic black holes make up only ~2-3 percent of the total galactic black hole mass but, within a halo, wanderingblack holes can contribute up to about half of the total black hole massorbiting the central galaxy. Intrahalo black holes offer a naturalexplanation for the compact X-ray sources often seen near the centres ofgalaxies and for the hyperluminous non-central X-ray source in M82.
| NGC 4435: a bulge-dominated galaxy with an unforeseen low-mass central black hole
We present the ionized gas kinematics of the SB0 galaxy NGC 4435 fromspectra obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. Thisgalaxy has been selected on the basis of its ground-based spectroscopy,for displaying a position-velocity diagram consistent with the presenceof a circumnuclear Keplerian disc rotating around a supermassive blackhole (SMBH). We obtained the Hα and [NII]λ6583 kinematicsin the galaxy nucleus along the major axis and two parallel offsetpositions. We built a dynamical model of the gaseous disc taking intoaccount the whole bi-dimensional velocity field and the instrumentalsetup. For the mass of the central SMBH, we found an upper limit of 7.5× 106Msolar at the 3σ level. Thisindicates that the mass of the SMBH of NGC 4435 is lower than the oneexpected from the M•-σc (5 ×107Msolar) and near-infraredM•-Lbulge (4 ×107Msolar) relationships.
| The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. VIII. The Nuclei of Early-Type Galaxies
The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey is a Hubble Space Telescope program toobtain high-resolution imaging in widely separated bandpasses (F475W~gand F850LP~z) for 100 early-type members of the Virgo Cluster, spanninga range of ~460 in blue luminosity. We use this large, homogenous dataset to examine the innermost structure of these galaxies and tocharacterize the properties of their compact central nuclei. We presenta sharp upward revision in the frequency of nucleation in early-typegalaxies brighter than MB~-15 (66%<~fn<~82%)and show that ground-based surveys underestimated the number of nucleidue to surface brightness selection effects, limited sensitivity andpoor spatial resolution. We speculate that previously reported claimsthat nucleated dwarfs are more concentrated toward the center of Virgothan their nonnucleated counterparts may be an artifact of theseselection effects. There is no clear evidence from the properties of thenuclei, or from the overall incidence of nucleation, for a change atMB~-17.6, the traditional dividing point between dwarf andgiant galaxies. There does, however, appear to be a fundamentaltransition at MB~-20.5, in the sense that the brighter,``core-Sérsic'' galaxies lack resolved (stellar) nuclei. A searchfor nuclei that may be offset from the photocenters of their hostgalaxies reveals only five candidates with displacements of more than0.5", all of which are in dwarf galaxies. In each case, however, theevidence suggests that these ``nuclei'' are, in fact, globular clustersprojected close to the galaxy photocenter. Working from a sample of 51galaxies with prominent nuclei, we find a median half-light radius of=4.2 pc, with the sizes of individual nucleiranging from 62 pc down to <=2 pc (i.e., unresolved in our images) inabout a half-dozen cases. Excluding these unresolved objects, the nucleisizes are found to depend on nuclear luminosity according to therelation rh L0.50+/-0.03. Because the largemajority of nuclei are resolved, we can rule out low-level AGNs as anexplanation for the central luminosity excess in almost all cases. Onaverage, the nuclei are ~3.5 mag brighter than a typical globularcluster. Based on their broadband colors, the nuclei appear to have oldto intermediate age stellar populations. The colors of the nuclei ingalaxies fainter than MB~-17.6 are tightly correlated withtheir luminosities, and less so with the luminosities of their hostgalaxies, suggesting that their chemical enrichment histories weregoverned by local or internal factors. Comparing the nuclei to the``nuclear clusters'' found in late-type spiral galaxies reveals a closematch in terms of size, luminosity, and overall frequency. A formationmechanism that is rather insensitive to the detailed properties of thehost galaxy properties is required to explain this ubiquity andhomogeneity. The mean of the frequency function for thenucleus-to-galaxy luminosity ratio in our nucleated galaxies,=-2.49+/-0.09 dex (σ=0.59+/-0.10), isindistinguishable from that of the SBH-to-bulge mass ratio,=-2.61+/-0.07dex (σ=0.45+/-0.09), calculated in 23 early-type galaxies withdetected supermassive black holes (SBHs). We argue that the compactstellar nuclei found in many of our program galaxies are the low-masscounterparts of the SBHs detected in the bright galaxies. If thisinterpretation is correct, then one should think in terms of ``centralmassive objects''-either SBHs or compact stellar nuclei-that accompanythe formation of almost all early-type galaxies and contain a meanfraction ~0.3% of the total bulge mass. In this view, SBHs would be thedominant formation mode above MB~-20.5.Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtainedat the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by theAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASAcontract NAS5-26555.
| Spitzer IRS spectra of Virgo Early-Type Galaxies: Detection of Stellar Silicate Emission
We present high signal-to-noise ratio Spitzer Infrared Spectrographobservations of 17 Virgo early-type galaxies. The galaxies were selectedfrom those that define the color-magnitude relation of the cluster, withthe aim of detecting the silicate emission of their dusty, mass-losingevolved stars. To flux calibrate these extended sources, we have deviseda new procedure that allows us to obtain the intrinsic spectral energydistribution and to disentangle resolved and unresolved emission withinthe same object. We have found that 13 objects of the sample (76%) arepassively evolving galaxies with a pronounced broad silicate featurethat is spatially extended and likely of stellar origin, in agreementwith model predictions. The other four objects (24%) are characterizedby different levels of activity. In NGC 4486 (M87), the line emissionand the broad silicate emission are evidently unresolved, and, givenalso the typical shape of the continuum, they likely originate in thenuclear torus. NGC 4636 shows emission lines superposed on extended(i.e., stellar) silicate emission, thus pushing the percentage ofgalaxies with silicate emission to 82%. Finally, NGC 4550 and NGC 4435are characterized by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and lineemission, arising from a central unresolved region. A more detailedanalysis of our sample, with updated models, will be presented in aforthcoming paper.
| The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. XI. The Nature of Diffuse Star Clusters in Early-Type Galaxies
We use HST ACS imaging of 100 early-type galaxies in the ACS VirgoCluster Survey to investigate the nature of diffuse star clusters(DSCs). Compared to globular clusters (GCs), these star clusters havelow luminosities (MV>-8) and a broad distribution of sizes(320 magarcsec-2). The median colors of diffuse star cluster systems(1.1
| The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. IX. The Color Distributions of Globular Cluster Systems in Early-Type Galaxies
We present the color distributions of globular cluster (GC) systems for100 early-type galaxies observed in the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey, thedeepest and most homogeneous survey of this kind to date. On average,galaxies at all luminosities in our study (-22
| The host galaxy/AGN connection in nearby early-type galaxies. A new view of the origin of the radio-quiet/radio-loud dichotomy?
This is the third in a series of three papers exploring the connectionbetween the multiwavelength properties of AGN in nearby early-typegalaxies and the characteristics of their hosts. Starting from aninitial sample of 332 galaxies, we selected 116 AGN candidates requiringthe detection of a radio source with a flux limit of ~1 mJy, as measuredfrom 5 GHz VLA observations. In Paper I we classified the objects withavailable archival HST images into "core" and "power-law" galaxies,discriminating on the basis of the nuclear slope of their brightnessprofiles. We used HST and Chandra data to isolate the nuclear emissionof these galaxies in the optical and X-ray bands, thus enabling us (oncecombined with the radio data) to study the multiwavelength behaviour oftheir nuclei. The properties of the nuclei hosted by the 29 coregalaxies were presented in Paper II Core galaxies invariably host aradio-loud nucleus, with a median radio-loudness of Log R = 3.6 and anX-ray based radio-loudness parameter of Log RX = -1.3. Herewe discuss the properties of the nuclei of the 22 "power-law" galaxies.They show a substantial excess of optical and X-ray emission withrespect to core galaxies at the same level of radio luminosity.Conversely, their radio-loudness parameters, Log R 1.6 and LogRX -3.3, are similar to those measured in Seyfertgalaxies. Thus the radio-loudness of AGN hosted by early-type galaxiesappears to be univocally related to the host's brightness profile:radio-loud AGN are only hosted by core galaxies, while radio-quiet AGNare found only in power-law galaxies. The brightness profile isdetermined by the galaxy's evolution, through its merger history; ourresults suggest that the same process sets the AGN flavour. In thisscenario, the black holes hosted by the merging galaxies rapidly sinktoward the centre of the newly formed object, setting its nuclearconfiguration, described by e.g. the total mass, spin, mass ratio, orseparation of the SMBHs. These parameters are most likely at the originof the different levels of the AGN radio-loudness. This connection mightopen a new path toward understanding the origin of theradio-loud/radio-quiet AGN dichotomy and provide us with a further toolfor exploring the co-evolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes.
| A radio census of nuclear activity in nearby galaxies
In order to determine the incidence of black hole accretion-drivennuclear activity in nearby galaxies, as manifested by their radioemission, we have carried out a high-resolution Multi-ElementRadio-Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) survey of LINERs andcomposite LINER/Hii galaxies from a complete magnitude-limited sample ofbright nearby galaxies (Palomar sample) with unknown arcsecond-scaleradio properties. There are fifteen radio detections, of which three arenew subarcsecond-scale radio core detections, all being candidate AGN.The detected galaxies supplement the already known low-luminosity AGN -low-luminosity Seyferts, LINERs and composite LINER/Hii galaxies - inthe Palomar sample. Combining all radio-detected Seyferts, LINERs andcomposite LINER/Hii galaxies (LTS sources), we obtain an overall radiodetection rate of 54% (22% of all bright nearby galaxies) and weestimate that at least ~50% (~20% of all bright nearby galaxies) aretrue AGN. The radio powers of the LTS galaxies allow the construction ofa local radio luminosity function. By comparing the luminosity functionwith those of selected moderate-redshift AGN, selected from the 2dF/NVSSsurvey, we find that LTS sources naturally extend the RLF of powerfulAGN down to powers of about 10 times that of Sgr A*.
| How large are the bars in barred galaxies?
I present a study of the sizes (semimajor axes) of bars in discgalaxies, combining a detailed R-band study of 65 S0-Sb galaxies withthe B-band measurements of 70 Sb-Sd galaxies from Martin (1995). As hasbeen noted before with smaller samples, bars in early-type (S0-Sb)galaxies are clearly larger than bars in late-type (Sc-Sd) galaxies;this is true both for relative sizes (bar length as fraction ofisophotal radius R25 or exponential disc scalelength h) andabsolute sizes (kpc). S0-Sab bars extend to ~1-10 kpc (mean ~ 3.3 kpc),~0.2-0.8R25 (mean ~ 0.38R25) and ~0.5-2.5h (mean ~1.4h). Late-type bars extend to only ~0.5-3.5 kpc,~0.05-0.35R25 and 0.2-1.5h their mean sizes are ~1.5 kpc, ~0.14R25 and ~0.6h. Sb galaxies resemble earlier-type galaxiesin terms of bar size relative to h; their smallerR25-relative sizes may be a side effect of higher starformation, which increases R25 but not h. Sbc galaxies form atransition between the early- and late-type regimes. For S0-Sbcgalaxies, bar size correlates well with disc size (both R25and h); these correlations are stronger than the known correlation withMB. All correlations appear to be weaker or absent forlate-type galaxies; in particular, there seems to be no correlationbetween bar size and either h or MB for Sc-Sd galaxies.Because bar size scales with disc size and galaxy magnitude for mostHubble types, studies of bar evolution with redshift should selectsamples with similar distributions of disc size or magnitude(extrapolated to present-day values); otherwise, bar frequencies andsizes could be mis-estimated. Because early-type galaxies tend to havelarger bars, resolution-limited studies will preferentially find bars inearly-type galaxies (assuming no significant differential evolution inbar sizes). I show that the bars detected in Hubble Space Telescope(HST) near-infrared(IR) images at z~ 1 by Sheth et al. have absolutesizes consistent with those in bright, nearby S0-Sb galaxies. I alsocompare the sizes of real bars with those produced in simulations anddiscuss some possible implications for scenarios of secular evolutionalong the Hubble sequence. Simulations often produce bars as large as(or larger than) those seen in S0-Sb galaxies, but rarely any as smallas those in Sc-Sd galaxies.
| Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources in Nearby Galaxies from ROSAT High Resolution Imager Observations I. Data Analysis
X-ray observations have revealed in other galaxies a class ofextranuclear X-ray point sources with X-ray luminosities of1039-1041 ergs s-1, exceeding theEddington luminosity for stellar mass X-ray binaries. Theseultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) may be powered by intermediate-massblack holes of a few thousand Msolar or stellar mass blackholes with special radiation processes. In this paper, we present asurvey of ULXs in 313 nearby galaxies withD25>1' within 40 Mpc with 467 ROSAT HighResolution Imager (HRI) archival observations. The HRI observations arereduced with uniform procedures, refined by simulations that help definethe point source detection algorithm employed in this survey. A sampleof 562 extragalactic X-ray point sources withLX=1038-1043 ergs s-1 isextracted from 173 survey galaxies, including 106 ULX candidates withinthe D25 isophotes of 63 galaxies and 110 ULX candidatesbetween 1D25 and 2D25 of 64 galaxies, from which aclean sample of 109 ULXs is constructed to minimize the contaminationfrom foreground or background objects. The strong connection betweenULXs and star formation is confirmed based on the striking preference ofULXs to occur in late-type galaxies, especially in star-forming regionssuch as spiral arms. ULXs are variable on timescales over days to yearsand exhibit a variety of long term variability patterns. Theidentifications of ULXs in the clean sample show some ULXs identified assupernovae (remnants), H II regions/nebulae, or young massive stars instar-forming regions, and a few other ULXs identified as old globularclusters. In a subsequent paper, the statistic properties of the surveywill be studied to calculate the occurrence frequencies and luminosityfunctions for ULXs in different types of galaxies to shed light on thenature of these enigmatic sources.
| Diffuse Light in the Virgo Cluster
We present deep optical imaging of the inner ~1.5d×1.5d of theVirgo Cluster to search for diffuse intracluster light (ICL). Our imagereaches a 1 σ depth of μV=28.5 magarcsec-2, which is 1.5 mag arcsec-2 deeper thanprevious surveys, and reveals an intricate web of diffuse ICL. We seeseveral long (>100 kpc) tidal streamers, as well as a myriad ofsmaller scale tidal tails and bridges between galaxies. The diffuse haloof M87 is traced out to nearly 200 kpc, appearing very irregular onthese scales, while significant diffuse light is also detected aroundthe M84/M86 pair. Several galaxies in the core are embedded in commonenvelopes, suggesting they are true physical subgroups. The complexsubstructure of Virgo's diffuse ICL reflects the hierarchical nature ofcluster assembly, rather than being the product of smooth accretionaround a central galaxy.
| The Stellar Populations in the Central Parsecs of Galactic Bulges
We present Hubble Space Telescope blue spectra at intermediate spectralresolution for the nuclei of 23 nearby disk galaxies. These objects wereselected to have nebular emission in their nuclei and span a range ofemission-line classifications, as well as Hubble types. In this paper wefocus on the stellar population as revealed by the continuum spectralenergy distribution measured within the central 0.13" (~8 pc) of thesegalaxies. The data were modeled with linear combinations of single-agestellar population synthesis models. The large majority (~80%) of thesurveyed nuclei have spectra whose features are consistent with apredominantly old (>~5×109 yr) stellar population.Approximately 25% of these nuclei show evidence of a component with ageyounger than 1 Gyr, with the incidence of these stars related to thenebular classification. Successful model fits imply an average reddeningcorresponding to AV~0.4 mag and a stellar metallicity of1-2.5 Zsolar. We discuss the implications of these resultsfor understanding the star formation history in the environment ofquiescent and active supermassive black holes. Our findings reinforcethe picture wherein Seyfert nuclei and the majority of low-ionizationnuclear emission-line regions are predominantly accretion-powered andsuggest that much of the central star formation in H II nuclei isactually circumnuclear.Based on observations obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope, which isoperated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555.
| GALEX Ultraviolet Observations of the Interacting Galaxy NGC 4438 in the Virgo Cluster
We present GALEX near-ultraviolet (2310 Å) and far-ultraviolet(1530 Å) images of the interacting galaxy NGC 4438 (Arp 120) inthe center of the Virgo Cluster. These images show an extended (20 kpc)tidal tail at the northwest edge of the galaxy that was previouslyundetected at other wavelengths; this tail is 15-25 kpc from NGC 4438'snucleus. Except for in the nucleus, the UV morphology of NGC 4438 istotally different from the Hα + [N II] morphology, which is moresimilar to the X-ray emission, confirming its gas cooling origin. Westudy the star formation history of NGC 4438 by combiningspectrophotometric data in the UV-visible-near-IR wavelength range withpopulation synthesis and galaxy evolution models. The data areconsistent with a recent (~10 Myr), instantaneous burst of starformation in the newly discovered UV northwestern tail that issignificantly younger than the age of the tidal interaction with NGC4435, dated by dynamical models at ~100 Myr ago. Recent star formationevents are also present at the edge of the northern arm and in thesouthern tail, while totally lacking in the other regions, which aredominated by the old stellar population that was perturbed during thedynamical interaction with NGC 4435. The contribution of this recentstarburst to the total galaxy stellar mass is lower than 0.1%, anextremely low value for such a violent interaction. High-velocity,off-center tidal encounters such as that observed in Arp 120 are thusnot sufficient to significantly increase the star formation activity ofcluster galaxies.
| New CO observations and simulations of the NGC 4438/NGC 4435 system. Interaction diagnostics of the Virgo cluster galaxy NGC 4438
NGC 4438 is a highly perturbed spiral with a stellar tidal tail andextraplanar molecular gas, now very HI deficient, crossing the center ofthe Virgo cluster at high speed. Various authors have attributed theperturbed appearance to the ram pressure of the intracluster medium, thetidal interaction with NGC 4435, and an ISM-ISM collision between theISM of NGC 4438 and NGC 4435. We present new CO observations coveringvirtually all of NGC 4438 and the center of NGC 4435 and detailedsimulations including all of the above effects. For the first time CO isdetected in NGC 4435. In NGC 4438 we find double line profiles atdistances up to 40'' to the west and south-west and redshifted lineswith respect to galactic rotation in the south of the center. The lackof gas to the North and East coupled with the large gaseous extent tothe West and the redshifted and double line profiles can only bereproduced with a ram pressure wind. NGC 4438 is most probably on itsfirst passage through the cluster center and has been stripped of its HIonly over the past 100 Myr. While an ISM-ISM collision between NGC 4435and NGC 4438 may occur, the effect is not significant compared to rampressure and tidal forces, not surprising for the passage of an S0galaxy 5-10 kpc from the center of NGC 4438. We also detect narrow COlines, in the absence of detected HI, in the northern tidal arm some 15kpc from the center of NGC 4438. This can be understood from thesimulations assuming a few percent of the gas is too dense to experiencethe ram pressure wind. NGC 4438 has changed greatly over the past 100Myr due to its plunge through the center of the Virgo cluster and theinteraction with the S0 NGC 4435. The ram pressure wind has a strongeffect which is increased by the interaction with NGC 4435, bringing gasfurther from NGC 4438 where the ram pressure strips it away.
| The host galaxy/AGN connection in nearby early-type galaxies. Sample selection and hosts brightness profiles
This is the first of a series of three papers exploring the connectionbetween the multiwavelength properties of AGNs in nearby early-typegalaxies and the characteristics of their hosts. We selected twosamples, both with high resolution 5 GHz VLA observations available andproviding measurements down to 1 mJy level, reaching radio-luminositiesas low as 1019 W Hz-1. We focus on the 116radio-detected galaxies as to boost the fraction of AGN with respect toa purely optically selected sample. Here we present the analysis of theoptical brightness profiles based on archival HST images, available for65 objects. We separate early-type galaxies on the basis of the slope oftheir nuclear brightness profiles, into core and power-law galaxiesfollowing the Nuker's scheme, rather than on the traditionalmorphological classification (i.e. into E and S0 galaxies). Our sampleof AGN candidates is indistinguishable, when their brightness profilesare concerned, from galaxies of similar optical luminosity but hostingweaker (or no) radio-sources. We confirm previous findings thatrelatively bright radio-sources (Lr > 1021.5 WHz-1) are uniquely associated to core galaxies. However,below this threshold in radio-luminosity core and power-law galaxiescoexist and they do not show any apparent difference in theirradio-properties. Not surprisingly, since our sample is deliberatelybiased to favour the inclusion of active galaxies, we found a higherfraction of optically nucleated galaxies. Addressing the multiwavelengthproperties of these nuclei will be the aim of the two forthcomingpapers.
| NGC 4254: a spiral galaxy entering the Virgo cluster
Deep Effelsberg Hi spectra of the one-armed, bright Virgo cluster spiralgalaxy NGC 4254 are presented. Five different positions were observed inthe 21 cm Hi line with the Effelsberg 100-m telescope: one in the centerand 4 located one HPBW to the NE, NW, SW, and SE, respectively, from thegalaxy center. The spectra are compared to existing deep VLAobservations, and the single dish and interferometric Hi data are usedto constrain a dynamical model which includes the effects of rampressure. The peculiar, one-armed spiral pattern of NGC 4254 and itsdistorted and kinematically perturbed atomic gas distribution can beexplained by a close and rapid encounter ~280 Myr ago with anothermassive Virgo galaxy, followed by ram pressure stripping that isongoing. The stripping occurs almost face-on, since the angle betweenthe disk and the orbital plane is 70°. The galaxy with which NGC4254 had its encounter is tentatively identified as the lenticular NGC4262.
| A Virgo high-resolution Hα kinematical survey. I. NGC 4438
New Hα emission-line observations of the Virgo cluster galaxy NGC4438 are presented. Fabry-Perot interferometry data at an effectiveangular resolution of ~2 arcsec are used to map the kinematics of theionized gas in the galaxy. For the first time we obtain a velocity fieldcovering a large area in NGC 4438, much larger than that deduced fromprevious Hi and CO maps. The kinematics of the extended, low surfacebrightness Hα filaments to the West of the galactic disk isdiscussed. We report on the discovery of a northern Hα structurewhich is clumpier than the other filaments. Evidence for multiplespectral components through the data-cube are presented in a nuclearshell and in the approaching half of the disk. The role of VCC 1040, adwarf elliptical galaxy located to the South of NGC 4438, is presentedto investigate the origin of a small-scale stellar tail of NGC 4438. Itcould be due to a minor tidal interaction between the two galaxies.
| The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. II. Data Reduction Procedures
The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey is a large program to carry out multicolorimaging of 100 early-type members of the Virgo Cluster using theAdvanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the Hubble Space Telescope. DeepF475W and F850LP images (~SDSS g and z) are being used to study thecentral regions of the program galaxies, their globular cluster systems,and the three-dimensional structure of Virgo itself. In this paper, wedescribe in detail the data reduction procedures used for the survey,including image registration, drizzling strategies, the computation ofweight images, object detection, the identification of globular clustercandidates, and the measurement of their photometric and structuralparameters.Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtainedat the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by theAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASAcontract NAS 5-26555.
| The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. I. Introduction to the Survey
The Virgo Cluster is the dominant mass concentration in the LocalSupercluster and the largest collection of elliptical and lenticulargalaxies in the nearby universe. In this paper, we present anintroduction to the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey: a program to image, in theF475W and F850LP bandpasses (~Sloan g and z), 100 early-type galaxies inthe Virgo Cluster using the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the HubbleSpace Telescope. We describe the selection of the program galaxies andtheir ensemble properties, the choice of filters, the field placementand orientation, the limiting magnitudes of the survey, coordinatedparallel observations of 100 ``intergalactic'' fields with WFPC2, andsupporting ground-based spectroscopic observations of the programgalaxies. In terms of depth, spatial resolution, sample size, andhomogeneity, this represents the most comprehensive imaging survey todate of early-type galaxies in a cluster environment. We brieflydescribe the main scientific goals of the survey, which include themeasurement of luminosities, metallicities, ages, and structuralparameters for the many thousands of globular clusters associated withthese galaxies, a high-resolution isophotal analysis of galaxiesspanning a factor of ~450 in luminosity and sharing a commonenvironment, the measurement of accurate distances for the full sampleof galaxies using the method of surface brightness fluctuations, and adetermination of the three-dimensional structure of Virgo itself.ID="FN1"> 1Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble SpaceTelescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which isoperated by the association of Universities for Research in Astronomy,Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.
| Chandra Observations of NGC 4438: An Environmentally Damaged Galaxy in the Virgo Cluster
We present results from a 25 ks Chandra ACIS-S observation of galaxiesNGC 4438 and NGC 4435 in the Virgo Cluster. X-ray emission in NGC 4438is observed in a ~700 pc nuclear region, a ~2.3 kpc spherical bulge, anda network of filaments extending 4-10 kpc to the west and southwest ofthe galaxy. The X-ray emission in all three regions is highly correlatedto similar features observed in Hα. Spectra of the filaments andbulge are well represented by a 0.4 keV MEKAL model with combined 0.3-2keV intrinsic luminosity LX=1.24×1040 ergss-1, electron densities ~0.02-0.04 cm-3, coolingtimes of 400-700 Myr, and X-ray gas mass <~3.7×108Msolar. In the nuclear region of NGC 4438 X-ray emission isseen from the nucleus and from two outflow bubbles extending 360 pc (730pc) to the northwest (southeast) of the nucleus. The spectrum of thenorthwest outflow bubble plus nucleus is well fitted by an absorbed(nH=1.9+1.0-0.4×1021cm-2) 0.58+0.04-0.10 keV MEKAL plasmamodel plus a heavily absorbed(nH=2.9+3.1-2.0×1022cm-2) Γ=2, power-law component. The electron density,cooling time, and X-ray gas mass in the northwest outflow are ~0.5cm-3, 30 Myr, and 3.5×106 Msolar,respectively. Weak X-ray emission is observed in the central region ofNGC 4435 with the peak of the hard emission coincident with the galaxy'soptical center, while the peak of the soft X-ray emission is displaced316 pc to the northeast. The spectrum of NGC 4435 is well fitted by anonthermal power law plus a thermal component from 0.2-0.3 keV diffuseinterstellar medium gas. We argue that the X-ray properties of gasoutside the nuclear region in NGC 4438 and NGC 4435 favor ahigh-velocity, off-center collision between these galaxies ~100 Myr ago,while the nuclear X-ray-emitting outflow gas in NGC 4438 has been heatedonly recently (within ~1-2 Myr) by shocks (vs~600 kms-1) possibly powered by a central active galactic nucleus.
| Companions to Isolated Elliptical Galaxies: Revisiting the Bothun-Sullivan Sample
We investigate the number of physical companion galaxies for a sample ofrelatively isolated elliptical galaxies. The NASA/IPAC ExtragalacticDatabase (NED) has been used to reinvestigate the incidence of satellitegalaxies for a sample of 34 elliptical galaxies, first investigated byBothun & Sullivan using a visual inspection of Palomar Sky Surveyprints out to a projected search radius of 75 kpc. We have repeatedtheir original investigation using data cataloged in NED. Nine of theseelliptical galaxies appear to be members of galaxy clusters; theremaining sample of 25 galaxies reveals an average of +1.0+/-0.5apparent companions per galaxy within a projected search radius of 75kpc, in excess of two equal-area comparison regions displaced by 150-300kpc. This is significantly larger than the +0.12+/-0.42companions/galaxy found by Bothun & Sullivan for the identicalsample. Making use of published radial velocities, mostly availablesince the completion of the Bothun-Sullivan study, identifies thephysical companions and gives a somewhat lower estimate of +0.4companions per elliptical galaxy. This is still 3 times larger than theoriginal statistical study, but given the incomplete and heterogeneousnature of the survey redshifts in NED, it still yields a firm lowerlimit on the number (and identity) of physical companions. An expansionof the search radius out to 300 kpc, again restricted to sampling onlythose objects with known redshifts in NED, gives another lower limit of4.5 physical companions per galaxy. (Excluding five elliptical galaxiesin the Fornax Cluster, this average drops to 3.5 companions perelliptical.) These physical companions are individually identified andlisted, and the ensemble-averaged radial density distribution of theseassociated galaxies is presented. For the ensemble, the radial densitydistribution is found to have a falloff consistent withρ~R-0.5 out to approximately 150 kpc. For non-FornaxCluster companions the falloff continues out to the 300 kpc limit of thesurvey. The velocity dispersion of these companions is found to reach amaximum of 350 km s-1 at around 120 kpc, after which theyfall at a rate consistent with Keplerian falloff. This falloff may thenindicate the detection of a cut-off in the mass-density distribution inthe elliptical galaxies' dark matter halo at ~100 kpc.
| The Stellar Populations of Low-Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei. II. Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph Observations
We present a study of the stellar populations of low-luminosity activegalactic nuclei (LLAGNs). Our goal is to search for spectroscopicsignatures of young and intermediate-age stars and to investigate theirrelationship with the ionization mechanism in LLAGNs. The method used isbased on the stellar population synthesis of the optical continuum ofthe innermost (20-100 pc) regions in these galaxies. For this purpose,we have collected high spatial resolution optical (2900-5700 Å)STIS spectra of 28 nearby LLAGNs that are available in the Hubble SpaceTelescope archive. The analysis of these data is compared with a similaranalysis also presented here for 51 ground-based spectra of LLAGNs. Ourmain findings are as follows: (1) No features due to Wolf-Rayet starswere convincingly detected in the STIS spectra. (2) Young starscontribute very little to the optical continuum in the ground-basedaperture. However, the fraction of light provided by these stars ishigher than 10% in most of the weak-[O I] ([OI]/Hα<=0.25) LLAGNSTIS spectra. (3) Intermediate-age stars contribute significantly to theoptical continuum of these nuclei. This population is more frequent inobjects with weak than with strong [O I]. Weak-[O I] LLAGNs that haveyoung stars stand out for their intermediate-age population. (4) Most ofthe strong-[O I] LLAGNs have predominantly old stellar population. A fewof these objects also show a featureless continuum that contributessignificantly to the optical continuum. These results suggest that youngand intermediate-age stars do not play a significant role in theionization of LLAGNs with strong [O I]. However, the ionization inweak-[O I] LLAGNs with young and/or intermediate-age populations couldbe due to stellar processes. A comparison of the properties of theseobjects with Seyfert 2 galaxies that harbor a nuclear starburst suggeststhat weak-[O I] LLAGNs are the lower luminosity counterparts of theSeyfert 2 composite nuclei.Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtainedat the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by theAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASAcontract NAS 5-26555. Based on observations made with the Nordic OpticalTelescope (NOT), operated on the island of La Palma jointly by Denmark,Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, in the Spanish Observatorio delRoque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica deCanarias.
| 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
| The origin of H I-deficiency in galaxies on the outskirts of the Virgo cluster. II. Companions and uncertainties in distances and deficiencies
The origin of the deficiency in neutral hydrogen of 13 spiral galaxieslying in the outskirts of the Virgo cluster is reassessed. If thesegalaxies have passed through the core of the cluster, their interstellargas should have been lost through ram pressure stripping by the hotX-ray emitting gas of the cluster. We analyze the positions of these HI-deficient and other spiral galaxies in velocity-distance plots, inwhich we include our compilation of velocity-distance data on 61elliptical galaxies, and compare with simulated velocity-distancediagrams obtained from cosmological N-body simulations. We find that20% relative Tully-Fisher distance errors are consistent with thegreat majority of the spirals, except for a small number of objectswhose positions in the velocity-distance diagram suggest grosslyincorrect distances, implying that the Tully-Fisher error distributionfunction has non-Gaussian wings. Moreover, we find that the distanceerrors may lead to an incorrect fitting of the Tolman-Bondi solutionthat can generate significant errors in the distance and especially themass estimates of the cluster. We suggest 4 possibilities for theoutlying H I-deficient spirals (in decreasing frequency): 1) they havelarge relative distance errors and are in fact close enough (atdistances between 12.7 and 20.9 Mpc from us) to the cluster to havepassed through its core and seen their gas removed by ram pressurestripping; 2) their gas is converted to stars by tidal interactions withother galaxies; 3) their gas is heated during recent mergers withsmaller galaxies; and 4) they are not truly H I-deficient (e.g. S0/amisclassified as Sa).Appendix A is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| Spectrophotometry of galaxies in the Virgo cluster. II. The data
Drift-scan mode (3600-6800 Å) spectra with 500
| Supermassive black holes in the center of disk galaxies
We present the activity of the COFIN 2001-2003 Reseach Project`Supermassive Black Holes in the Center of Disk Galaxies' co-finaced bythe Italian Ministry for University and Scientific Reseach. The researchteam consists of 3 units working in Padova, Arcetri and Trieste. Aim ofthe project is to study the M - sigma relation. Inparticular we plan to derive the mass of the central supermassive blackhole (SMBH herefter) for about 60 spiral galaxies ranging from Sa to Scand including both quiescent and active objects. We are going to use ourspectroscopic and photometric data at high spatial resolution obtainedboth from ground-based and Hubble Space Telescope observations to revealthe presence of SMBH's in the mass range between 106 and1010 M_sun. With the new data we will expand the study of thecorrelations between SMBH's and the characteristics of the host galaxiesover a larger range of masses and morphological types and to shed lighton the link between formation of quasar and of their host galaxies.
| Intracluster Planetary Nebulae in the Virgo Cluster. II. Imaging Catalog
Intracluster stars-stars outside of individual galaxies-are a sensitivemeasure of the poorly understood processes of galactic mergers, clusteraccretion, and tidal stripping that occur in galaxy clusters. Inparticular, intracluster planetary nebulae are a useful probe ofintracluster light as a whole. We present a catalog of 318 intraclusterplanetary nebula candidates in the nearby Virgo Cluster of galaxies,taken with the Kitt Peak National Observatory 4 m telescope. We detailthe automated detection routines developed to search for thesecandidates and discuss the routines' strengths and weaknesses. Wediscuss the importance of contamination in the catalog, and the likelycauses. We present magnitudes and positions of these candidates,suitable for spectroscopic follow-up observations. Analyses of thesecandidates are presented in other papers of this series.
| The Tully-Fisher Relation in Coma and Virgo Cluster S0 Galaxies
We use the Tully-Fisher relation (TFR) to compare the behavior of S0 andlate-type spiral galaxies. We determine circular velocities based onstellar kinematics derived from stellar absorption line spectroscopy for10 S0's in the Coma Cluster and eight S0's in the Virgo Cluster. Wecombine these results with similar measurements of 13 Coma S0 galaxiesobtained previously. We find that there is only a small offset,ΔmH~0.2, in the H-band luminosity at a given circularvelocity, vc~200 km s-1, between S0 and late-typespirals. This result implies a similar total H-band mass-to-light ratio(within an effective radius) among disk galaxies of different Hubbletypes. As the older stellar population in S0's is dimmer, this suggestsa somewhat larger fraction of stellar mass in these S0's than inlate-type spirals. We also find that the relation between (I- andH-band) luminosity and vc for the S0 galaxies is at bestpoorly defined and has a scatter of ~1 mag, significantly larger thanthe TFR for late-type spirals, where the observed I- and H-band scatteris σ~0.3-0.5 mag. This substantial scatter confirms the originalfindings of Dressler & Sandage and is similar to that found in astudy by Neistein and coworkers of 18 nearby S0 galaxies in the fieldwhere σI~0.7 mag, but differs from the small scatterfound by Mathieu and coworkers, σI~0.3 mag, for sixnearby S0's. Our results suggest that differing formation histories canlead to S0's with diverse properties and that S0's are more likely to bethe outcomes of minor mergers or some ``preprocessing'' in groups ofgalaxies falling into clusters, rather than simply late-type spiralsthat have been stripped of their gas but are kinematically preserved. Wesuggest that it is likely that many mechanisms, such as slow encounters,tidal interactions, and gas stripping, may have occurred in thelifetimes of the galaxies and produced the heterogeneous class of S0'sthat are observed today.
| 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.
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