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The structure of elliptical galaxies in the Virgo cluster. Results from the INT Wide Field Survey
We report on a complete CCD imaging survey of 226 elliptical galaxies inthe North-East quadrant of the Virgo cluster, representative of theproperties of giant and dwarf elliptical galaxies in this cluster. Wefit their radial light profiles with the Sersic r1/n model oflight distribution. We confirm the result of Graham & Guzman(\cite{Graham03}, AJ, 125, 2936) that the apparent dichotomy between Eand dE galaxies in the luminosity-< μ>e plane nolonger appears when other structural parameters are considered and canbe entirely attributed to the onset of ``core'' galaxies atBT -20.5 mag. When ``core'' galaxies are notconsidered, E and dE form a unique family with n linearly increasingwith the luminosity. For 90 galaxies we analyze the B-I color indices,both in the nuclear and in the outer regions. Both indices are bluertoward fainter luminosities. We find also that the outer color gradientsdo not show any significant correlation with the luminosity. The scatterin all color indicators increases significantly toward lowerluminosities, e.g. galaxies fainter than BT -15 have aB-I spread > 0.5 mag.Table 2, Figs. 13 and 14 are only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| Completing H I observations of galaxies in the Virgo cluster
High sensitivity (rms noise 0.5 mJy) 21-cm H I line observationswere made of 33 galaxies in the Virgo cluster, using the refurbishedArecibo telescope, which resulted in the detection of 12 objects. Thesedata, combined with the measurements available from the literature,provide the first set of H I data that is complete for all 355 late-type(Sa-Im-BCD) galaxies in the Virgo cluster with mp ≤ 18.0mag. The Virgo cluster H I mass function (HIMF) that was derived forthis optically selected galaxy sample is in agreement with the HIMFderived for the Virgo cluster from the blind HIJASS H I survey and isinconsistent with the Field HIMF. This indicates that both in this richcluster and in the general field, neutral hydrogen is primarilyassociated with late-type galaxies, with marginal contributions fromearly-type galaxies and isolated H I clouds. The inconsistency betweenthe cluster and the field HIMF derives primarily from the difference inthe optical luminosity function of late-type galaxies in the twoenvironments, combined with the HI deficiency that is known to occur ingalaxies in rich clusters.Tables \ref{t1, \ref{sample_dat} and Appendix A are only available inelectronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org
| A multibeam HI survey of the Virgo cluster - two isolated HI clouds?
We have carried out a fully sampled large area (4°× 8°)21-cm HI line survey of part of the Virgo cluster using the Jodrell Bankmultibeam instrument. The survey has a sensitivity some three timesbetter than the standard HIJASS (HI Jodrell All Sky Survey) and HIPASS(HI Parkes All Sky Survey) surveys. We detect 31 galaxies, 27 of whichare well-known cluster members. The four new detections have beenconfirmed in the HIPASS data and by follow-up Jodrell Bank pointedobservations. One object lies behind M86, but the other three have noobvious optical counterparts upon inspection of the digital sky surveyfields. These three objects were mapped at Arecibo with a smaller3.6-arcmin half power beam width (HPBW) and a four times bettersensitivity than the Jodrell Bank data, which allow an improveddetermination of the dimensions and location of two of the objects, butsurprisingly failed to detect the third. The two objects are resolved bythe Arecibo beam, giving them a size far larger than any optical imagesin the nearby field. To our mass limit of 5 ×107(Δv/50 km s-1) Msolar andcolumn density limit of 3 × 1018(Δv/50 kms-1) atom cm-2, these new detections representonly about 2 per cent of the cluster atomic hydrogen mass. Ourobservations indicate that the HI mass function of the cluster turnsdown at the low-mass end, making it very different to the field galaxyHI mass function. This is quite different to the Virgo cluster opticalluminosity function, which is much steeper than that in the generalfield. Many of the sample galaxies are relatively gas-poor compared withHI selected samples of field galaxies, confirming the `anaemic spirals'view of Virgo cluster late-type galaxies. The velocity distribution ofthe HI detected galaxies is also very different to that of the clusteras a whole. There are relatively more high-velocity galaxies in the HIsample, suggesting that they form part of a currently infallingpopulation. The HI sample with optical identifications has a minimum HIcolumn density cut-off more than an order of magnitude above thatexpected from the sensitivity of the survey. This observed columndensity is above the normally expected level for star formation tooccur. The two detections with no optical counterparts have very muchlower column densities than that of the rest of the sample, below thestar formation threshold.
| The 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
| The Three-dimensional Structure of the Virgo Cluster Region from Tully-Fisher and H I Data
The distances and H I contents of 161 spiral galaxies in the region ofthe Virgo cluster are used to gain insight into the complicatedstructure of this galaxy system. Special attention has been paid to theinvestigation of the suggestion presented in an earlier work that someperipheral Virgo groups may contain strongly gas-deficient spiralgalaxies. The three-dimensional galaxy distribution has been inferredfrom quality distance estimates obtained by averaging distance modulibased on the Tully-Fisher relationship taken from eight published datasets previously homogenized, resulting in a relation with a dispersionof 0.41 mag. Previous findings that the spiral distribution issubstantially more elongated along the line of sight than in the planeof the sky are confirmed by the current data. In addition, an importanteast-west disparity in this effect has been detected. The overallwidth-to-depth ratio of the Virgo cluster region is about 1:4, with themost distant objects concentrated in the western half. The filamentarystructure of the spiral population and its orientation are alsoreflected by the H I-deficient objects alone. The H I deficiency patternshows a central enhancement extending from ~16 to 22 Mpc inline-of-sight distance; most of this enhancement arises from galaxiesthat belong to the Virgo cluster proper. However, significant gasdeficiencies are also detected outside the main body of the cluster in aprobable group of galaxies at line-of-sight distances ~25-30 Mpc, lyingin the region dominated by the southern edge of the M49 subcluster andclouds W' and W, as well as in various foreground galaxies. In the Virgoregion, the H I content of the galaxies then is not a straightforwardindicator of cluster membership.
| The Virgo Cluster Distance from 21 Centimeter Line Widths
The distance of the Virgo cluster is derived in the B band from the 21cm line width-absolute magnitude relation. This relation is calibratedusing 18 spirals with Cepheid distances, mainly from the Hubble SpaceTelescope. The calibration is applied to a complete sample ofnonpeculiar spirals with i > 45 deg lying within the optical (n = 49)or X-ray (n = 35) contour of the cluster, resulting in a mean clusterdistance of (m - M)0 = 31.58 +/- 0.24 mag (external error), or 20.7 +/-2.4 Mpc. The mean distance of subcluster A is 0.46 +/- 0.18 mag smallerthan that of subcluster B, but the individual distances of the membersof the two substructures show considerable overlap. Cluster spirals with30 deg < i < 45 deg yield distances almost as good as those ofmore inclined galaxies. H I-truncated galaxies are overluminous by 0.8mag at a given line width. The distance modulus is corrected by -0.07mag for the fact that cluster members have lower H I surface fluxes andare redder in (B-I) at a given line width than the (field) calibrators.Different sources for the B magnitudes and line widths have littleeffect on the resulting distance. Different precepts for the internalabsorption correction change the result by no more than +/-0.17 mag. Theindividual distances of the cluster members do not show any dependenceon recession velocity, inclination, Hubble type, or line width. Thedependence on apparent magnitude reflects the considerable depth effectof the cluster. The adopted distance is in good agreement withindependent distance determinations of the cluster. Combining thecluster distance with the corrected cluster velocity of 1142 +/- 61 kms-1 gives H0 = 55 +/- 7 km s-1 Mpc-1 (external error). If the Virgocluster distance is inserted into the tight Hubble diagram of clustersout to 11,000 km s-1 using relative distances to the Virgo cluster, oneobtains a global value of H0 = 57 +/- 7 km s-1 Mpc-1.
| Study of the Virgo Cluster Using the B-Band Tully-Fisher Relation
The distances to spiral galaxies of the Virgo cluster are estimatedusing the B-band Tully-Fisher (TF) relation, and the three-dimensionalstructure of the cluster is studied. The analysis is made for a completespiral sample taken from the Virgo Cluster catalog of Binggeli, Sandage,& Tammann. The sample contains virtually all spiral galaxies down toM_{BT}=-15 mag at 40 Mpc. A careful examination is made ofthe selection effect and errors of the data. We estimate distance to 181galaxies, among which distances to 89 galaxies are reasonably accurate.We compare these distances to those obtained by other authors on agalaxy-by-galaxy basis. We find reasonable consistency of theTully-Fisher distance among various authors. In particular, it is foundthat the discrepancy in the distance among the different analyses withdifferent data is about 15%, when good H I and photometric data areavailable. We clarify that the different results on the Virgo distanceamong authors arise from the choice of the sample and interpretation ofthe data. We confirm that the Tully-Fisher relation for the Virgocluster shows an unusually large scatter sigma = 0.67 mag, compared tothat for other clusters. We conclude that this scatter is not due to theintrinsic dispersion of the Tully-Fisher relation, but due to a largedepth effect of the Virgo cluster, which we estimate to be extended from12 Mpc to 30 Mpc. The distribution of H I--deficient galaxies isconcentrated at around 14--20 Mpc, indicating the presence of a core atthis distance, and this agrees with the distance estimated for M87 andother elliptical galaxies with other methods. We show also that thespatial number density of spiral galaxies takes a peak at this distance,while a simple average of all spiral galaxy distances gives 20 Mpc. Thefact that the velocity dispersion of galaxies takes a maximum at 14--18Mpc lends an additional support for the distance to the core. Thesefeatures cannot be understood if the large scatter of the TF relation ismerely due to the intrinsic dispersion. The structure of the VirgoCluster we infer from the Tully-Fisher analysis looks like a filamentwhich is familiar to us in a late phase of structure formation in thepancake collapse in hierarchical clustering simulations. This Virgofilament lies almost along the line of sight, and this is the originthat has led a number of authors to much confusion in the Virgo distancedeterminations. We show that the M87 subcluster is located around 15--18Mpc, and it consists mainly of early-type type spiral galaxies inaddition to elliptical and S0 galaxies. There are very few late-typespiral galaxies in this subcluster. The spiral rich M49 subclusterconsists of a mixture of all types of spiral galaxies and is located atabout 22 Mpc. The two other known clouds, W and M, are located at about30--40 Mpc and undergo infall toward the core. The M cloud contains fewearly type spirals. We cannot discriminate, however, whether thesesubclusters or clouds are isolated aggregates or merely parts offilamentary structure. Finally, we infer the Hubble constant to be 82+/- 10 km s-1 Mpc-1.
| Extended LY alpha -absorbing Halos around Nearby Galaxies
In order to establish the Lyα absorption cross section ofpresent-day galaxies, we have identified 38 galaxies with z = 0-0.08that lie within 40-500 h^-1^ kpc of the line of sight to a QSO observedwith the Faint Object Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope(HST). Including three galaxies in the field of 3C 273 investigated byprevious authors, we find that nine of 41 galaxies have associatedLyα absorption. If the identified Lyα absorption systems aregenuinely associated with the galaxies, then the covering factor of gasaround galaxies remains roughly constant at ~40% between 100 and 300h^-1^ kpc. Beyond 300 h^-1^ kpc, the incidence of absorption dropssharply. We conclude that (1) nearby galaxies do not possessLyα-absorbing halos beyond 300 h^-1^ kpc in radius and (2) thecovering factor of present-day galaxies between 50 and 300 h^-1^ kpc is44% at an equivalent width limit of W >= 0.3 A. For the nine galaxieswith associated Lyα absorption lines, differences in the galaxiessystemic velocities and the velocity of the absorption line, {DELTA}v,range over +/- 300 km s^-1^, consistent with the distribution found atredshifts > 0.1 by Lanzetta et al. and Le Brun, Bergeron, &Boisse. Values of {DELTA}v spanning several hundred km s^-1^ areprobably real for some of the QSO-galaxy pairs, however, and do notsimply arise from errors in measuring cz_gal_ or cz_abs_. This suggeststhat the absorbing clouds are kinematically tied to the galaxy disks andthat the distribution of {DELTA}v may arise because of the effects ofgalaxy inclination. We find no evidence for a correlation betweenLyα equivalent width and galaxy line-of-sight separation, whichweakens the argument that the identified galaxies are directlyassociated with the Lyα lines. Also, we find that absorption doesnot arise only from bright galaxies, since there are several examples inwhich low-luminosity galaxies apparently cause absorption. Yet we showthat the absorbing halos around galaxies cannot be independent of galaxyluminosity because if all low- redshift galaxies were surrounded byextended halos, the number of Lyα absorption systems found in HSTspectra would be much larger than has recently been determined. Thisresult leads us to question whether the galaxies are actuallyresponsible for the Lyα absorption lines or whether theassociation in redshift is fortuitous. Our results support the picturesuggested by others that Lyα lines arise in filaments or sheetsthat connect and contain the overdense regions that galaxies inhabit.This conclusion, however, remains at odds with the results of Lanzettaet al., who find that Lyα systems are more intimately linked withgalaxies. It may be, therefore, that we are seeing an evolution of theway in which Ly& lines associate with galaxies over the last fewbillion years. We suggest that at least some of the Lyα cloudsthat are not associated with galaxies at z ~ 0.5 have been slowlymerging with galaxies over time, creating larger but less uniform gasdistributions around the galaxies we see today.
| An image database. II. Catalogue between δ=-30deg and δ=70deg.
A preliminary list of 68.040 galaxies was built from extraction of35.841 digitized images of the Palomar Sky Survey (Paper I). For eachgalaxy, the basic parameters are obtained: coordinates, diameter, axisratio, total magnitude, position angle. On this preliminary list, weapply severe selection rules to get a catalog of 28.000 galaxies, wellidentified and well documented. For each parameter, a comparison is madewith standard measurements. The accuracy of the raw photometricparameters is quite good despite of the simplicity of the method.Without any local correction, the standard error on the total magnitudeis about 0.5 magnitude up to a total magnitude of B_T_=17. Significantsecondary effects are detected concerning the magnitudes: distance toplate center effect and air-mass effect.
| Surface photometry of spiral galaxies in the Virgo cluster region
Photographic surface photometry is carried out for 246 spiral galaxiesin the Virgo cluster region north of declination + 5 deg. The samplecontains all spiral galaxies of 'certain' and 'possible' Virgo membersin the Virgo Cluster Catalogue of Binggeli, Sandage, & Tammann. Thesample also includes those galaxies which were used in the Tully-Fisheranalyses of the Virgo cluster given in the literature. A catalog ispresented for positions, B-band total magnitudes and inclinations forthese galaxies, and they are compared with the data given in previousstudies.
| General study of group membership. II - Determination of nearby groups
We present a whole sky catalog of nearby groups of galaxies taken fromthe Lyon-Meudon Extragalactic Database. From the 78,000 objects in thedatabase, we extracted a sample of 6392 galaxies, complete up to thelimiting apparent magnitude B0 = 14.0. Moreover, in order to considersolely the galaxies of the local universe, all the selected galaxieshave a known recession velocity smaller than 5500 km/s. Two methods wereused in group construction: a Huchra-Geller (1982) derived percolationmethod and a Tully (1980) derived hierarchical method. Each method gaveus one catalog. These were then compared and synthesized to obtain asingle catalog containing the most reliable groups. There are 485 groupsof a least three members in the final catalog.
| The kinematics of the Virgo cluster revisited
The paper updates the velocity data of Virgo cluster galaxies andreconsiders the kinematic structure of the Virgo cluster. New velocitiesare given for 144 galaxies listed in the Virgo Cluster Catalog (VCC).Improved velocities are given for another 131 VCC galaxies. The Virgocluster is disentangled from its surrounding clouds of galaxies, and thelikely members of each of these clouds are listed. The velocitydistribution of dwarf elliptical cluster members is found to be highlyasymmetric. This phenomenon is interpreted as evidence for the imminentmerging of two subclusters in the core region, which points to thedynamical youth of the Virgo cluster. The mean heliocentric velocity ofthe Virgo cluster is estimated at 1050 +/- 35 km/s.
| The extragalactic distance scale. II - The unbiased distance to the Virgo Cluster from the B-band Tully-Fisher relation
The behavior of the B-band Tully-Fisher (TF) relation with respect tothe observational biases and parameter uncertainties is studied from analmost complete sample of spiral galaxies belonging to the VirgoCluster. The strong influence of the limiting apparent magnitude whenusing the direct TF relation is confirmed. A distance modulus of 31.4 +or - 0.2 is found along with a corresponding H(0) = 68 + or - 8km/s/Mpc, assuming a cosmological velocity of the cluster V = 1300 + or- 100 km/s. The Virgo S and S-prime clouds are shown to lie atsignificantly different distances. Different distance moduli found byother authors are explained.
| H I observations in the Virgo cluster area. III - All 'member' spirals
H I observations of 141 spiral galaxies in and around the Virgo Clusterare reported, with major-axis mapping for 65 of them. Heliocentricvelocities, profile widths, and H I fluxes are given for all detectedgalaxies. Spin orientations are given for mapped galaxies and H Idiameters for those sufficiently resolved by the 3.2 arcmin beam. Mappedgalaxy spectra are shown as contour plates of position versus velocity;central beam spectra are shown for the remainder. The distributions ofspin orientations are briefly analyzed and shown to be essentiallyrandom. The distributions of H I luminosity are presented along withindicative dynamical mass for the spirals and a synthesized H Idistribution for the cluster as a whole.
| Studies of the Virgo Cluster. II - A catalog of 2096 galaxies in the Virgo Cluster area.
The present catalog of 2096 galaxies within an area of about 140 sq degapproximately centered on the Virgo cluster should be an essentiallycomplete listing of all certain and possible cluster members,independent of morphological type. Cluster membership is essentiallydecided by galaxy morphology; for giants and the rare class of highsurface brightness dwarfs, membership rests on velocity data. While 1277of the catalog entries are considered members of the Virgo cluster, 574are possible members and 245 appear to be background Zwicky galaxies.Major-to-minor axis ratios are given for all galaxies brighter than B(T)= 18, as well as for many fainter ones.
| A catalog of dwarf galaxies in Virgo
A catalog listing the location, apparent angular diameter, type,estimated central light concentration, and estimated brightness of 846dwarf galaxies in a 200-deg-sq region in Virgo is presented. Thegalaxies comprise 634 ellipticals, 137 IC-3475-type galaxies, 73 dwarfspirals and irregulars, and two objects which are jets of normalgalaxies, and were found on nine long-exposure IIIa-J-emulsion platesmade with the 1.2-m-Schmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory from 1971to 1976. Concordances to other catalogs, tables of additionalparameters, maps, graphs, and photographs are provided. The projecteddistributions of normal and dwarf galaxies and the dependence ofapparent luminosity on central light concentration are discussed. It isfound that dwarf ellipticals and IC-3475-type galaxies are probablemembers of the Virgo cluster, while dwarf spirals and possibly dwarfirregulars are not.
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