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Hubble Space Telescope STIS Spectra of Nuclear Star Clusters in Spiral Galaxies: Dependence of Age and Mass on Hubble Type
We study the nuclear star clusters (NCs) in spiral galaxies of variousHubble types using spectra obtained with the STIS on board the HubbleSpace Telescope (HST). We observed the nuclear clusters in 40 galaxies,selected from two previous HST WFPC2 imaging surveys. At a spatialresolution of ~0.2" the spectra provide a better separation of clusterlight from underlying galaxy light than is possible with ground-basedspectra. Approximately half of the spectra have a sufficiently highsignal-to-noise ratio for detailed stellar population analysis. For theother half we only measure the continuum slope, as quantified by the B-Vcolor. To infer the star formation history, metallicity, and dustextinction, we fit weighted superpositions of single-age stellarpopulation templates to the high signal-to-noise ratio spectra. We usethe results to determine the luminosity-weighted age, mass-to-lightratio, and masses of the clusters. Approximately half of the sampleclusters contain a population younger than 1 Gyr. Theluminosity-weighted ages range from 10 Myr to 10 Gyr. The stellarpopulations of NCs are generally best fit as a mixture of populations ofdifferent ages. This indicates that NCs did not form in a single event,but that instead they had additional star formation long after theoldest stars formed. On average, the sample clusters in late-typespirals have a younger luminosity-weighted mean age than those inearly-type spirals (L=8.37+/-0.25 vs.9.23+/-0.21). The average mass-weighted ages are older by ~0.7 dex,indicating that there often is an underlying older population that doesnot contribute much light but does contain most of the mass. The averagecluster masses are smaller in late-type spirals than in early-typespirals (logM=6.25+/-0.21 vs. 7.63+/-0.24) and exceed the masses typicalof globular clusters. The cluster mass correlates loosely with totalgalaxy luminosity. It correlates more strongly with both the Hubble typeof the host galaxy and the luminosity of its bulge. The lattercorrelation has the same slope as the well-known correlation betweensupermassive black hole mass and bulge luminosity. The properties ofboth nuclear clusters and black holes in the centers of spiral galaxiesare therefore intimately connected to the properties of the host galaxy,and in particular its bulge component. Plausible formation scenarioshave to account for this. We discuss various possible selection biasesin our results, but conclude that none of them can explain thedifferences seen between clusters in early- and late-type spirals. Theinability to infer spectroscopically the populations of faint clustersdoes introduce a bias toward younger ages, but not necessarily towardhigher masses.Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope,obtained from the Data Archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute,which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research inAstronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555. These observations areassociated with proposals 9070 and 9783.
| 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.
| 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.
| Properties of isolated disk galaxies
We present a new sample of northern isolated galaxies, which are definedby the physical criterion that they were not affected by other galaxiesin their evolution during the last few Gyr. To find them we used thelogarithmic ratio, f, between inner and tidal forces acting upon thecandidate galaxy by a possible perturber. The analysis of thedistribution of the f-values for the galaxies in the Coma cluster leadus to adopt the criterion f ≤ -4.5 for isolated galaxies. Thecandidates were chosen from the CfA catalog of galaxies within thevolume defined by cz ≤5000 km s-1, galactic latitudehigher than 40o and declination ≥-2.5o. Theselection of the sample, based on redshift values (when available),magnitudes and sizes of the candidate galaxies and possible perturberspresent in the same field is discussed. The final list of selectedisolated galaxies includes 203 objects from the initial 1706. The listcontains only truly isolated galaxies in the sense defined, but it is byno means complete, since all the galaxies with possible companions underthe f-criterion but with unknown redshift were discarded. We alsoselected a sample of perturbed galaxies comprised of all the diskgalaxies from the initial list with companions (with known redshift)satisfying f ≥ -2 and \Delta(cz) ≤500 km s-1; a totalof 130 objects. The statistical comparison of both samples showssignificant differences in morphology, sizes, masses, luminosities andcolor indices. Confirming previous results, we found that late spiral,Sc-type galaxies are, in particular, more frequent among isolatedgalaxies, whereas Lenticular galaxies are more abundant among perturbedgalaxies. Isolated systems appear to be smaller, less luminous and bluerthan interacting objects. We also found that bars are twice as frequentamong perturbed galaxies compared to isolated galaxies, in particularfor early Spirals and Lenticulars. The perturbed galaxies have higherLFIR/LB and Mmol/LB ratios,but the atomic gas content is similar for the two samples. The analysisof the luminosity-size and mass-luminosity relations shows similartrends for both families, the main difference being the almost totalabsence of big, bright and massive galaxies among the family of isolatedsystems, together with the almost total absence of small, faint and lowmass galaxies among the perturbed systems. All these aspects indicatethat the evolution induced by interactions with neighbors would proceedfrom late, small, faint and low mass Spirals to earlier, bigger, moreluminous and more massive spiral and lenticular galaxies, producing atthe same time a larger fraction of barred galaxies but preserving thesame relations between global parameters. The properties we found forour sample of isolated galaxies appear similar to those of high redshiftgalaxies, suggesting that the present-day isolated galaxies could bequietly evolved, unused building blocks surviving in low densityenvironments.Tables \ref{t1} and \ref{t2} are only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| The luminous and dark matter content of disk galaxies
We have compiled a sample of disk galaxies with available photometry inthe B and K bands, velocity line-widths and HI integral fluxes. Severalparameters that trace the luminous, baryonic and dark matter contentswere inferred. We investigated how these parameters vary with differentgalaxy properties, and compared the results with predictions of galaxyevolutionary models in the context of the Λ Cold Dark Matter(ΛCDM) cosmogony. The ratio of disk-to-total maximum circularvelocity, (Vd,m/Vt,m), depends mainly on thecentral disk surface density Σd,0 (or surfacebrightness, SB), increasing roughly asΣd,00.15. While a fraction of high SBgalaxies have a (Vd,m/Vt,m) ratio corresponding tothe maximum disk solution, the low SB are completely dark matterdominated. The trend is similar for the models, although they haveslightly smaller (Vd,m/Vt,m) ratios thanobservations, in particular at the highest SBs and when small baryonfractions are used. The scatter in the(Vd,m/Vt,m)- Σd,0 plot is large.An analysis of residuals shows that (Vd,m/Vt,m)tends to decrease as the galaxy is redder, more luminous (massive), andof earlier type. The models allow us to explain the physics of theseresults, which imply a connexion between halo structure and luminousproperties. The dynamical-to-baryon mass and dynamical mass-to-light (Band K) ratios at a given radius were also estimated. All these ratios,for observations and models, decrease with Σd,0; (orSB) and do not correlate significantly with the galaxy scale, contraryto what has been reported in previous works, based on the analysis ofrotation curve shapes. We discuss this difference and state theimportance of solving the controversy of whether the dark and luminouscontents in disk galaxies depend on SB or luminosity. The broadagreement between the models and observations presented here regardingthe trends of the dynamical-to-baryon matter and mass-to-light ratioswith several galaxy properties favors the ΛCDM scenario. However,the excess of dark matter inside the optical region of disk galaxiesremains the main difficulty.Appendices A and B are only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org. Table 1 is only available at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/412/633
| A new catalogue of ISM content of normal galaxies
We have compiled a catalogue of the gas content for a sample of 1916galaxies, considered to be a fair representation of ``normality''. Thedefinition of a ``normal'' galaxy adopted in this work implies that wehave purposely excluded from the catalogue galaxies having distortedmorphology (such as interaction bridges, tails or lopsidedness) and/orany signature of peculiar kinematics (such as polar rings,counterrotating disks or other decoupled components). In contrast, wehave included systems hosting active galactic nuclei (AGN) in thecatalogue. This catalogue revises previous compendia on the ISM contentof galaxies published by \citet{bregman} and \citet{casoli}, andcompiles data available in the literature from several small samples ofgalaxies. Masses for warm dust, atomic and molecular gas, as well asX-ray luminosities have been converted to a uniform distance scale takenfrom the Catalogue of Principal Galaxies (PGC). We have used twodifferent normalization factors to explore the variation of the gascontent along the Hubble sequence: the blue luminosity (LB)and the square of linear diameter (D225). Ourcatalogue significantly improves the statistics of previous referencecatalogues and can be used in future studies to define a template ISMcontent for ``normal'' galaxies along the Hubble sequence. The cataloguecan be accessed on-line and is also available at the Centre desDonnées Stellaires (CDS).The catalogue is available in electronic form athttp://dipastro.pd.astro.it/galletta/ismcat and at the CDS via anonymousftp to\ cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via\http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/405/5
| 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.
| The UZC-SSRS2 Group Catalog
We apply a friends-of-friends algorithm to the combined Updated ZwickyCatalog and Southern Sky Redshift Survey to construct a catalog of 1168groups of galaxies; 411 of these groups have five or more members withinthe redshift survey. The group catalog covers 4.69 sr, and all groupsexceed the number density contrast threshold, δρ/ρ=80. Wedemonstrate that the groups catalog is homogeneous across the twounderlying redshift surveys; the catalog of groups and their membersthus provides a basis for other statistical studies of the large-scaledistribution of groups and their physical properties. The medianphysical properties of the groups are similar to those for groupsderived from independent surveys, including the ESO Key Programme andthe Las Campanas Redshift Survey. We include tables of groups and theirmembers.
| Spiral Galaxies with HST/NICMOS. I. Nuclear Morphologies, Color Maps, and Distinct Nuclei
This is the first of two papers where we present the analysis of anHST/NICMOS2 near-infrared (NIR) snapshot survey in the F160W (H) filterfor a sample of 78 spiral galaxies selected from the UGC and ESOLVcatalogs. For 69 of these objects we provide nuclear color informationderived by combining the H data either with additional NICMOS F110W (J)images or with V WFPC2/HST data. Here we present the NIR images and theoptical-NIR color maps. We focus our attention on the properties of thephotometrically distinct ``nuclei'' which are found embedded in most ofthe galaxies and provide measurements of their half-light radii andmagnitudes in the H (and when available in the J) band. We find that (1)in the NIR the nuclei embedded in the bright early- to intermediate-typegalaxies span a much larger range in brightness than the nuclei whichare typically found embedded in bulgeless late-type disks: the nucleiembedded in the early- to intermediate-type galaxies reach, on thebright end, values up to HAB~-17.7 mag; (2) nuclei are foundin both nonbarred and barred hosts, in large-scale (>~1 kpc) as wellas in nuclear (up to a few 100 pc) bars; (3) there is a significantincrease in half-light radius with increasing luminosity of the nucleusin the early/intermediate types (a decade in radius for ~8 magbrightening), a correlation which was found in the V band and which isalso seen in the NIR data; (4) the nuclei of early/intermediate-typespirals cover a large range of optical-NIR colors, from V-H~-0.5 to 3.Some nuclei are bluer and others redder than the surroundinggalaxy,indicating the presence of activity or reddening by dust in many ofthese systems; (5) someearly/intermediate nuclei are elongated and/orslightly offset from the isophotal center of the host galaxy. Onaverage, however, these nuclei appear as centered, star-cluster-likestructures similar to those whichare found in the late-type disks. Basedon observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained atthe Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by Associationof Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555.
| Compact groups in the UZC galaxy sample
Applying an automatic neighbour search algorithm to the 3D UZC galaxycatalogue (Falco et al. \cite{Falco}) we have identified 291 compactgroups (CGs) with radial velocity between 1000 and 10 000 kms-1. The sample is analysed to investigate whether Tripletsdisplay kinematical and morphological characteristics similar to higherorder CGs (Multiplets). It is found that Triplets constitute lowvelocity dispersion structures, have a gas-rich galaxy population andare typically retrieved in sparse environments. Conversely Multipletsshow higher velocity dispersion, include few gas-rich members and aregenerally embedded structures. Evidence hence emerges indicating thatTriplets and Multiplets, though sharing a common scale, correspond todifferent galaxy systems. Triplets are typically field structures whilstMultiplets are mainly subclumps (either temporarily projected orcollapsing) within larger structures. Simulations show that selectioneffects can only partially account for differences, but significantcontamination of Triplets by field galaxy interlopers could eventuallyinduce the observed dependences on multiplicity. Tables 1 and 2 are onlyavailable in electronic at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.125.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/391/35
| A K-band central disc surface brightness correlation with scalelength for early-type disc galaxies, and the inclination correction
The K-band light profiles from two statistically complete,diameter-limited samples of disc galaxies have been simultaneouslymodelled with a seeing-convolved Sérsic r1/n bulge anda seeing-convolved exponential disc. This has enabled an accurateseparation of the bulge and disc light, and hence an estimate of thecentral disc surface brightness μ0,K and the discscalelength h. There exists a bright envelope of galaxy discs in theμ0,K-logh diagram; for the early-type (<=Sbc-Sc) discgalaxies μ0,K is shown to increase with logh, with a slopeof ~2 and a correlation coefficient equal to 0.75. This relation existsover a range of disc scalelengths from 0.5 to 10kpc(H0=75kms-1Mpc-1). In general, galaxytypes Scd or later are observed to deviate from this relation; they havefainter surface brightnesses for a given scalelength. With a subsampleof 59 low-inclination (i<=50°) and 29 high-inclination(i>=50°) galaxies having morphological types ranging from S0 toSc, the need for an inclination correction to the K-band disc surfacebrightness is demonstrated. Certain selection criteria biases which havetroubled previous surface brightness inclination tests (for example,whether the galaxies are selected from a magnitude- or diameter-limitedsample) do not operate in the μ0,K-logh diagram. Measuredcentral disc surface brightnesses are found to be significantly(>5σ) brighter for the high-inclination disc galaxies than forthe low-inclination disc galaxies. With no surface brightnessinclination correction or allowance for the trend betweenμ0,K and logh, the standard deviation to the distributionof μ0,K values is ~1magarcsec-2, while thestandard deviation about the mean μ0,K-logh relationdecreases from 0.69magarcsec-2, when no inclinationcorrection is applied, to 0.47magarcsec-2 when theinclination correction is applied. Possible changes to the discscalelength with inclination, as a result of radial gradients in thedisc opacity, have been explored. The maximum possible sizes for suchcorrections are too small to provide a valid explanation for thedifference between the low- and high-inclination disc galaxies in theμ0,K-logh diagram.
| Hubble Space Telescope Optical-Near-Infrared Colors of Nearby R1/4 and Exponential Bulges
We have analyzed V, H, and J Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images for asample of early- to late-type spiral galaxies and have reportedelsewhere the statistical frequency of R1/4-law andexponential bulges in our sample as a function of Hubble type and thefrequency of occurrence and structural properties of the resolvedcentral nuclei hosted by intermediate- to late-type bulges and disks(see references in the text). Here we use these data to show thefollowing:1.The V-H color distribution of the R1/4 bulge peaksaround ~1.3, with a sigma Δ(V-H)~0.1 mag. Assuming asolar metallicity, these values correspond to stellar ages of ~6+/-3Gyr. In contrast, the V-H color distribution of the exponential bulgespeaks at and has a sigma Δ(V-H)~0.4 mag. Thislikely implies significantly smaller ages and/or lower metallicities for(a significant fraction of the stars in) the exponential bulges comparedto the R1/4-law spheroids. 2.Most of the central nuclei hosted by the exponential bulges haveV-H and J-H colors that are compatible with relatively unobscuredstellar populations. Assuming no or little dust effects, ages >~1 Gyrare suggested for these nuclei, which in turn imply masses of about afew 106 to a few 107 Msolar, i.e.,sufficient to dissolve progenitor bars with masses consistent with thoseinferred for the exponential bulges by their luminosities.3. While different bulge-nucleus pairscover a large range of V-H colors, each bulge-nucleus pair has quitesimilar V-H colors and thus possibly similar stellar populations.The HST photometric analysis suggests thatexponential-type bulge formation is taking place in the local universeand that this process is consistent with being the outcome of secularevolution processes within the disks. The structures that are currentlyformed inside the disks are quite dissimilar from the oldelliptical-like spheroids that are hosted by the early-type disks. Basedon observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained atthe Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by Associationof Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA), under NASAcontract NAS 5-26555.
| An Investigation into the Prominence of Spiral Galaxy Bulges
From a diameter-limited sample of 86 low-inclination (face-on) spiralgalaxies, the bulge-to-disk size and luminosity ratios and otherquantitative measurements for the prominence of the bulge are derived.The bulge and disk parameters have been estimated using aseeing-convolved Sérsic r1/n bulge and aseeing-convolved exponential disk that were fitted to the optical (B, R,and I) and near-infrared (K) galaxy light profiles. In general,early-type spiral galaxy bulges have Sérsic values of n>1, andlate-type spiral galaxy bulges have values of n<1. In the B band,only eight galaxies have a bulge shape parameter n consistent with theexponential value 1, and only five galaxies do in the K band. Use of theexponential bulge model is shown to restrict the range ofre/h and B/D values by more than a factor of 2. Applicationof the r1/n bulge models, unlike exponential bulge models,results in a larger mean re/h ratio for the early-type spiralgalaxies than for the late-type spiral galaxies, although this result isshown not to be statistically significant. The mean B/D luminosity ratiois, however, significantly larger (>3 σ) for the early-typespirals than for the late-type spirals. Two new parameters areintroduced to measure the prominence of the bulge. The first is thedifference between the central surface brightness of the galaxy and thesurface brightness level at which the bulge and disk contribute equally.The other test uses the radius at which the contribution from the diskand bulge light are equal, normalized for the effect of intrinsicallydifferent galaxy sizes. Both of these parameters reveal that theearly-type spiral galaxies ``appear'' to have significantly (more than 2σ in all passbands) bigger and brighter bulges than late-typespiral galaxies. This apparent contradiction with the re/hvalues can be explained with an iceberg-like scenario, in which thebulges in late-type spiral galaxies are relatively submerged in theirdisk. This can be achieved by varying the relative stellar density whilemaintaining the same effective bulge-to-disk ratio. The B/D luminosityratio and the concentration index C31, in agreement with paststudies, are positively correlated and decrease as one moves along thespiral Hubble sequence toward later spiral galaxy types, although forgalaxies with large extended bulges the concentration index no longertraces the B/D luminosity ratio in a one-to-one fashion. A strong(Spearman's rank-order correlation coefficient, rs=0.80) andhighly significant positive correlation exists between the shape, n, ofthe bulge light profile and the bulge-to-disk luminosity ratio. Theabsolute bulge magnitude-logn diagram is used as a diagnostic tool forcomparative studies with dwarf elliptical and ordinary ellipticalgalaxies. At least in the B band these objects occupy distinctlydifferent regions of this parameter space. While the dwarf ellipticalgalaxies appear to be the faint extension to the brighter ellipticalgalaxies, the bulges of spiral galaxies do not; for a given luminositythey have a noticeably smaller shape parameter and hence a more dramaticdecline of stellar density at large radii.
| 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.
| A Subarcsecond Resolution Near-Infrared Study of Seyfert and ``Normal'' Galaxies. II. Morphology
We present a detailed study of the bar fraction in the CfA sample ofSeyfert galaxies and in a carefully selected control sample of nonactivegalaxies to investigate the relation between the presence of bars and ofnuclear activity. To avoid the problems related to bar classification inthe Third Reference Catalogue (RC3), e.g., subjectivity, low resolution,and contamination by dust, we have developed an objective barclassification method, which we conservatively apply to our newsubarcsecond resolution near-infrared (NIR) imaging data set discussedin the first paper in this series. We are able to use stringent criteriabased on radial profiles of ellipticity and major axis position angle todetermine the presence of a bar and its axial ratio. Concentrating onnoninteracting galaxies in our sample for which morphologicalinformation can be obtained, we find that Seyfert hosts are barred moreoften (79%+/-7.5%) than the nonactive galaxies in our control sample(59%+/-9%), a result which is at the ~2.5 σ significance level.The fraction of nonaxisymmetric hosts becomes even larger wheninteracting galaxies are taken into account. We discuss the implicationsof this result for the fueling of central activity by large-scale bars.This paper improves on previous work by means of imaging at higherspatial resolution and by the use of a set of stringent criteria for barpresence and confirms that the use of NIR is superior to optical imagingfor detection of bars in disk galaxies.
| Arcsecond Positions of UGC Galaxies
We present accurate B1950 and J2000 positions for all confirmed galaxiesin the Uppsala General Catalog (UGC). The positions were measuredvisually from Digitized Sky Survey images with rms uncertaintiesσ<=[(1.2")2+(θ/100)2]1/2,where θ is the major-axis diameter. We compared each galaxymeasured with the original UGC description to ensure high reliability.The full position list is available in the electronic version only.
| A Subarcsecond-Resolution Near-Infrared Study of Seyfert and ``Normal'' Galaxies. I. Imaging Data
We present new high-resolution near-infrared observations in the J, H,and K bands, obtained to study the properties of Seyfert host galaxies.The data set consists of images in the three bands of practically theentire CfA sample of Seyfert galaxies, and K-band images of a controlsample of nonactive, ``normal,'' galaxies, matched to the Seyfert samplein the distribution of type and inclination. The spatial resolution andsampling of the new images is a factor of 2 better than previouslypublished K-band data. In this paper, we present the data in the form ofprofiles of surface brightness and color, ellipticity and major axisposition angle, as well as gray-scale maps of surface brightness in H orK and both J-H and H-K colors. We compare our surface brightness andcolor profiles with the literature and find good agreement. Our data arediscussed in detail in three subsequent publications, where we analyzethe morphologies of Seyfert and normal hosts, quantify the strength ofnonaxisymmetric features in disks and their relationship to nuclearactivity, address the question of bar fraction in Seyferts and normalgalaxies, and analyze the color information in the framework of emissionmechanisms in Seyfert 1's and 2's and in nonactive galaxies.
| The Centers of Early- to Intermediate-Type Spiral Galaxies: A Structural Analysis
A recent Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/WFPC2 visual survey of early- andintermediate-type spiral galaxies has unveiled a great complexity in theinner regions of these systems, which include a high fraction ofphotometrically distinct compact sources sitting at the galactic centers(``nuclei''). The faint nuclei (M_V>~-12) are typically hosted byrather amorphous, quiescent, bulgelike structures with an exponential(rather than the classical R^1/4) light profile. These ``exponentialbulges'' are commonly found inside the intermediate-type disks,consistent with previous studies. Brighter nuclei (M_V<~-12) aretypically found instead in the centers of galaxies with circumnuclearrings/arms of star formation or dust and an active, i.e., H II- orAGN-type, central spectrum at ground-based resolution. On the structuralplane of half-light radius (R_e) versus mean surface brightness withinthe half-light radius (mu_e), faint and bright nuclei overlap with, andfill the region of parameter space between, the old Milky Way globularclusters and the young star clusters, respectively, with typical R_e ofabout a few up to ~20 pc. On the same plane, the exponential bulges havesignificantly fainter mu_e than R^1/4 bulges for any given radius andfollow a mu_e-R_e relation typical of disks, which strengthens thesuggestion that the exponential bulges grow inside the disks as a resultof the secular evolution of the latter. Under the likely assumption thatthe visual light from the faint nuclei embedded in the quiescentexponential bulges is of stellar origin and of a similar (>~1 Gyr)age for the central star clusters and their host bulges, the massesinferred for the former agree with those required to disrupt barscomparable in size to the latter. This offers support to scenarios inwhich the exponential bulges grow inside the disks owing to the orbitaldisruption of progenitor bars caused by the growth of a centralconcentration of mass and suggests that this specific mode of bulgeformation is (still) active in the present-day universe. On the otherhand, the presence of the massive clusters at the very center of thelow-density exponential bulges should prevent any other ``nuclear'' barfrom forming, thereby preventing further infall of dissipative fuel tothe nuclear regions. This may argue against the possibility of evolvingthe exponential bulges into denser, R^1/4 bulges by a simple looping forseveral cycles of the bar formation/disruption mechanism.
| The I-Band Tully-Fisher Relation for SC Galaxies: 21 Centimeter H I Line Data
A compilation of 21 cm line spectral parameters specifically designedfor application of the Tully-Fisher (TF) distance method is presentedfor 1201 spiral galaxies, primarily field Sc galaxies, for which opticalI-band photometric imaging is also available. New H I line spectra havebeen obtained for 881 galaxies. For an additional 320 galaxies, spectraavailable in a digital archive have been reexamined to allow applicationof a single algorithm for the derivation of the TF velocity widthparameter. A velocity width algorithm is used that provides a robustmeasurement of rotational velocity and permits an estimate of the erroron that width taking into account the effects of instrumental broadeningand signal-to-noise. The digital data are used to establish regressionrelations between measurements of velocity widths using other commonprescriptions so that comparable widths can be derived throughconversion of values published in the literature. The uniform H I linewidths presented here provide the rotational velocity measurement to beused in deriving peculiar velocities via the TF method.
| The I-Band Tully-Fisher Relation for SC Galaxies: Optical Imaging Data
Properties derived from the analysis of photometric I-band imagingobservations are presented for 1727 inclined spiral galaxies, mostly oftypes Sbc and Sc. The reduction, parameter extraction, and errorestimation procedures are discussed in detail. The asymptotic behaviorof the magnitude curve of growth and the radial variation in ellipticityand position angle are used in combination with the linearity of thesurface brightness falloff to fit the disk portion of the profile. TotalI-band magnitudes are calculated by extrapolating the detected surfacebrightness profile to a radius of eight disk scale lengths. Errors inthe magnitudes, typically ~0.04 mag, are dominated by uncertainties inthe sky subtraction and disk-fitting procedures. Comparison is made withthe similar imaging database of Mathewson, Ford, & Buchhorn, both aspresented originally by those authors and after reanalyzing theirdigital reduction files using identical disk-fitting procedures. Directcomparison is made of profile details for 292 galaxies observed incommon. Although some differences occur, good agreement is found,proving that the two data sets can be used in combination with onlyminor accommodation of those differences. The compilation of opticalproperties presented here is optimized for use in applications of theTully-Fisher relation as a secondary distance indicator in studies ofthe local peculiar velocity field.
| Groups of galaxies. III. Some empirical characteristics.
Not Available
| 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.
| Spiral Galaxies with WFPC2. II. The Nuclear Properties of 40 Objects
We report the analysis of Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field PlanetaryCamera 2 F606W images of 40 spiral galaxies belonging to the sampleintroduced in Paper I, where 35 other targets were discussed. Wedescribe the optical morphological properties of the new 40 galaxies,derive the surface brightness profiles for 25 of them, and present theresults of photometric decompositions of these profiles into a ``bulge''(R^1/4 or exponential) and a disk component. The analysis of theenlarged sample of 75 galaxies puts on a statistically more solid groundthe main results presented in Paper I: (1) In ~30% of the galaxies, theinner, morphologically distinct structures have an irregular appearance.Some of these ``irregular bulges'' are likely to be currently formingstars. (2) Resolved, central compact sources are detected in about 50%of the galaxies. (3) The central compact sources in galaxies withnuclear star formation are brighter, for similar sizes, than those innon-star-forming galaxies. (4) The luminosity of the compact sourcescorrelates with the total galactic luminosity. Furthermore, the analysisof the enlarged sample of 75 objects shows the following: (a) Several ofthe nonclassical inner structures are well fitted by an exponentialprofile. These ``exponential bulges'' are typically fainter than R^1/4bulges, for a given total galaxy luminosity and (catalog) Hubble typelater than Sab. (b) Irregular/exponential bulges typically host centralcompact sources. (c) The central sources are present in all types ofdisk galaxies, starting with systems as early as S0a. About 60% of Sb toSc galaxies host a central compact source. Many of the galaxies thathost compact sources contain a barred structure. (d) Galaxies withapparent nuclear star formation, which also host the brightest compactsources, are preferentially the early- and intermediate-type (S0a-Sb)systems. (e) None of the features depend on environment: isolated andnonisolated galaxies show indistinguishable properties. Independent ofthe physical nature of the nonclassical inner structures, our mainconclusion is that a significant fraction of galaxies classified fromthe ground as relatively early-type spirals show a rich variety ofcentral properties and little or no morphological/photometric evidencefor a smooth, R^1/4 law bulge. Based on observations with the NASA/ESAHubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope ScienceInstitute, which is operated by the Association of Universities forResearch in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.
| Spiral Galaxies with WFPC2. III. Nuclear Cusp Slopes
In this paper, the third of a series dedicated to the investigation ofthe nuclear properties of spiral galaxies, we (1) model the Wide FieldPlanetary Camera 2 F606W nuclear surface brightness profiles of 41spiral galaxies presented in Papers I and II with the analytic lawintroduced by Lauer et al. and (2) deconvolve these surface brightnessprofiles and their analytic fits, so as to estimate the nuclear stellardensities of bulges of spiral galaxies. We find that the nuclear stellarcusps (quantified by the average logarithmic slope of the surfacebrightness profiles within 0.1"-0.5") are significantly different forR^1/4 law and exponential bulges. The former have nuclear propertiessimilar to those of early-type galaxies, i.e., similar values of nuclearcusps for comparable luminosities, and increasingly steeper stellarcusps with decreasing luminosity. By contrast, exponential bulges have(underlying the light contribution from photometrically distinct,central compact sources) comparatively shallower stellar cusps, andlikely lower nuclear densities, than R^1/4 law bulges. Based onobservations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at theSpace Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Associationof Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555.
| Catalogue of HI maps of galaxies. I.
A catalogue is presented of galaxies having large-scale observations inthe HI line. This catalogue collects from the literature the informationthat characterizes the observations in the 21-cm line and the way thatthese data were presented by means of maps, graphics and tables, forshowing the distribution and kinematics of the gas. It containsfurthermore a measure of the HI extension that is detected at the levelof the maximum sensitivity reached in the observations. This catalogueis intended as a guide for references on the HI maps published in theliterature from 1953 to 1995 and is the basis for the analysis of thedata presented in Paper II. The catalogue is only available inelectronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp 130.79.128.5 orhttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| 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.
| An Einstein X-Ray Survey of Optically Selected Galaxies. I. Data
We present the results of a complete Einstein imaging proportionalcounter X-ray survey of optically selected galaxies from theShapley-Ames Catalog, the Uppsala General Catalogue, and the EuropeanSouthern Observatory Catalog. Well-defined optical criteria are used toselect the galaxies, and X-ray fluxes are measured at the opticallydefined positions. The result is a comprehensive list of X-ray detectionand upper limit measurements for 1018 galaxies. Of these, 827 haveeither independent distance estimates or radial velocities. Associatedoptical, redshift, and distance data have been assembled for thesegalaxies, and their distances come from a combination of directlypredicted distances and those predicted from the Faber-Burstein GreatAttractor/Virgocentric infall model. The accuracy of the X-ray fluxeshas been checked in three different ways; all are consistent with thederived X-ray fluxes being of <=0.1 dex accuracy. In particular,there is agreement with previously published X-ray fluxes for galaxiesin common with a 1991 study by Roberts et al. and a 1992 study byFabbiano et al. The data presented here will be used in further studiesto characterize the X-ray output of galaxies of various morphologicaltypes and thus to enable the determination of the major sourcescontributing to the X-ray emission from galaxies.
| Near-infrared and optical broadband surface photometry of 86 face-on disk dominated galaxies. II. A two-dimensional method to determine bulge and disk parameters.
In this Paper I present a new two-dimensional decomposition technique,which models the surface photometry of a galaxy with an exponentiallight profile for both bulge and disk and, when necessary, with aFreeman bar. The new technique was tested for systematic errors on bothartificial and real data and compared with widely used one-dimensionaldecomposition techniques, where the luminosity profile of the galaxy isused. The comparisons indicate that a decomposition of thetwo-dimensional image of the galaxy with an exponential light profilefor both bulge and disk yields the most reproducible and representativebulge and disk parameters. An extensive error analysis was made todetermine the reliability of the model parameters. If the model with anexponential bulge profile is a reasonable description of a galaxy, themaximum errors in the derived model parameters are of order 20%. Theuncertainties in the model parameters will increase, if the exponentialbulge function is replaced by other often used bulge functions as the deVaucouleurs law. All decomposition methods were applied to the opticaland near-infrared data set presented by de Jong & van der Kruit(1994), which comprises 86 galaxies in six passbands.
| 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.
| Arm structure in normal spiral galaxies, 1: Multivariate data for 492 galaxies
Multivariate data have been collected as part of an effort to develop anew classification system for spiral galaxies, one which is notnecessarily based on subjective morphological properties. A sample of492 moderately bright northern Sa and Sc spirals was chosen for futurestatistical analysis. New observations were made at 20 and 21 cm; thelatter data are described in detail here. Infrared Astronomy Satellite(IRAS) fluxes were obtained from archival data. Finally, new estimatesof arm pattern radomness and of local environmental harshness werecompiled for most sample objects.
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