Statistics of structure and rotation parameters of disk galaxies

Through an analysis of the optical and radio rotation curves of 57 galaxies, the following conclusions are drawn. 1) As we go from early-type to late-type along the Hubble sequence, dynamical quantities characterizing the structure and rotation show systematic variations. The bulge-to-disk mass-ratio decreases, the peak velocity V_m decreases, the period at the peak-velocity-point P_m increases, the peak-velocity-radius r_m shifts outward relative to the optical Holmberg radius r_H, the spiral arms become more loosely-wound and the galaxy flattens. 2) Within a given morphological type, the dispersion in each of the dynamical quantities is related to the mass, the more massive galaxies have larger V_m and r_m and small k (= V_m²/r_m) and β (= r_H/r_m.3) another important factor in influencing the dynamical state of a galaxy and, within a morphological type, the tidal galaxies have greater k and β and smaller r_m.     

Deep GMRT 150 MHz Observations of the DEEP2 Fields: Searching for High Red-Shift Radio Galaxies Revisited

High red-shift radio galaxies are best searched at low radio frequencies, due to its steep radio spectra. Here we present preliminary results from our programme to search for high red-shift radio galaxies to ∼10 to 100 times fainter than the known population till date. We have extracted ultra-steep spectrum (USS) samples from deep 150 MHz Giant Meter-wave Radio Telescope (GMRT) observations from one of the three well-studied DEEP2 fields to this effect. From correlating these radio sources with respect to the high-frequency catalogues such as VLA, FIRST and NVSS at 1.4 GHz, we find ∼100 steep spectrum (spectral index, α > 1) radio sources, which are good candidates for high red-shift radio galaxies.     

Density profiles of dark matter halos with anisotropic velocity tensors

We present density profiles, that are solutions of the spherical Jeans equation, derived under the following two assumptions: (i) the coarse grained phase-density follows a power-law of radius, ρ/σ³ ∝ r⁻, and (ii) the velocity anisotropy parameter is given by the relation β_a(r)=β₁+2β₂ (r/r_*)/[1+(r/r_*)²] where β₁, β₂ are parameters and r_* equals twice the virial radius, r_vir, of the system. These assumptions are well motivated by the results of N-body simulations. Density profiles have increasing logarithmic slopes γ, defined by γ=−d ln ρ/d ln r. The values of γ at r=10^−2.5r_vir, a distance where the systems could be resolved by large N-body simulations, lie in the range 1.0–1.6. These inner values of γ increase for increasing β₁ and for increasing concentration of the system. On the other hand, slopes at r=r_vir lie in the range 2.42–3.82. A model density profile that fits well the results at radial distances between 10⁻³r_vir and r_vir and connects kinematic and structural characteristics of spherical systems is described.     

Distant radio galaxies and their environments

We review the properties and nature of luminous high-redshift radio galaxies (HzRGs, z > 2) and the environments in which they are located. HzRGs have several distinct constituents which interact with each other—relativistic plasma, gas in various forms, dust, stars and an active galactic nucleus (AGN). These building blocks provide unique diagnostics about conditions in the early Universe. We discuss the properties of each constituent. Evidence is presented that HzRGs are massive forming galaxies and the progenitors of brightest cluster galaxies in the local Universe. HzRGs are located in overdense regions in the early Universe and are frequently surrounded by protoclusters. We review the properties and nature of these radio-selected protoclusters. Finally we consider the potential for future progress in the field during the next few decades. A compendium of known HzRGs is given in an appendix.     

Five supernova survey galaxies in the southern hemisphere. I. Optical and near-infrared database

The determination of the supernova (SN) rate is based not only on the number of detected events, but also on the properties of the parent galaxy population. This is the first paper of a series aimed at obtaining new, refined, SN rates from a set of five SN surveys, by making use of a joint analysis of near-infrared (NIR) data. We describe the properties of the 3838 galaxies that were monitored for SNe events, including newly determined morphologies and their DENIS, and POSS-II/UKST I, 2MASS and DENIS J and K_s and 2MASS H magnitudes. We have compared 2MASS, DENIS and POSS-II/UKST IJK magnitudes in order to find possible systematic photometric shifts in the measurements. The DENIS and POSS-II/UKST I band magnitudes show large discrepancies (mean absolute difference of 0.4 mag.), mostly due to different spectral responses of the two instruments, with an important contribution (0.33 mag rms) from the large uncertainties in the photometric calibration of the POSS-II and UKST photographic plates. In the other wavebands, the limiting near infrared magnitude, morphology, and inclination of the galaxies are the most influential factors which affect the determination of photometry of the galaxies. Nevertheless, no significant systematic differences have been found between any pair of NIR magnitude measurements, except for a few percent of galaxies showing large discrepancies. This allows us to combine DENIS and 2MASS data for the J and K_s filters. Published in Astrofizika, Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 47–62 (Februay 2009).     

Statistical analysis of correlation between the positions of quasars and the uppsala galaxies

The question of the association of quasars with galaxies is re-examined using 785 quasars at |b| 30, δ − 02°30′ in the new Hewitt and Burbidge Catalog (1980) and all galaxies in the “Uppsala General Catalogue of Galaxies” (Nilson, 1973). The results of the two-point cross-correlation function are presented and they show that there are on the average 0.153 ± 0.011 more galaxies within 10'.0 of a QSO than would be expected if the QSOs were distributed randomly. We find the marginal significance of the tendency for correlation between QSOs and galaxies to increase with increasing redshifts z or apparent magnitudes V. The nearest neighbor test has also been taken to analyse the same data as well as get further evidence for the apparent association between QSOs and galaxies.     

Relationship between pulse width and energy in GRB 060124: from X-ray to γ-ray bands

GRB 060124 is the first event that both prompt and afterglow emission were observed simultaneously by the three Swift instruments. Its main peak also triggered Konus-Wind and HETE-II. Therefore, investigation on both the temporal and spectral properties of the prompt emission can be extended to X-ray bands. We perform a detailed analysis on the two well identified pulses of this burst, and find that the pulses are narrower at higher energies, and both X-rays and γ-rays follow the same w–E relation for an individual pulse. However, there is no a universal power-law index of the w–E relation among pulses. We find also that the rise-to-decay ratio r/d seems not to evolve with E and the r/d values are well consistent with that observed in typical GRBs. The broadband spectral energy distribution also suggests that the X-rays are consistent with the spectral behavior of the γ-rays. These results indicate that the X-ray emission tracks the γ-ray emission and the emissions in the two energy bands are likely to be originated from the same physical mechanism.     

High-redshift QSOs in the FIRST survey

In a pilot search for high-redshift radio quasi-stellar objects (QSOs), we have obtained spectra of 55 FIRST sources     with very red     starlike optical identifications. 10 of the candidates are QSOs with redshifts     (four were previously known), six with     . The remaining 45 candidates comprise: one     broad-absorption-line (BAL) QSO; three low-redshift galaxies with narrow emission lines; 18 probable radio galaxies; and 23 M stars (mainly misidentifications). The success rate (high-redshift QSOs / spectroscopically-observed candidates) for this search is 1/2 for     , and 1/9 for     . With an effective search area of 4030 deg², the surface density of high-redshift     QSOs discovered with this technique is 0.0015 deg⁻².     

Spatial clustering of Ultra Steep Spectrum sources and galaxies

We present measurements of the clustering properties of galaxies in the field of redshift range 0.5 ≲ z ≲ 1.5 Ultra Steep Spectrum radio sources selected from the Sydney University Molonglo Sky Survey and the National Radio Astronomy Observatories Very Large Array Sky Survey. Galaxies in these USS fields were identified in deep near-infrared observations, complete down to   K _s= 20  , using the IRIS2 instrument at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. We used the redshift distribution of   K _s < 20  galaxies taken from Cimatti et al. (2002) to constrain the correlation length r ₀. We find a strong correlation signal of galaxies with   K _s < 20  around our USS sample. A comoving correlation length   r ₀= 14.0 ± 2.8  h ⁻¹ Mpc  and γ= 1.98 ± 0.15 are derived in a flat cosmological model universe.
We compare our findings with those obtained in a cosmological N -body simulation populated with galform semi-analytic galaxies. We find that clusters of galaxies with masses in the range   M = 10^13.4–14.2  h ⁻¹ M_⊙  have a cluster–galaxy cross-correlation amplitude comparable to those found between the USS hosts and galaxies. These results suggest that distant radio galaxies are excellent tracers of galaxy overdensities and pinpoint the progenitors of present day rich clusters of galaxies.     

Constraints on the clustering, biasing and redshift distribution of radio sources

We discuss how different theoretical predictions for the variance σ ² of the counts-in-cells distribution of radio sources can be matched to measurements from the FIRST survey at different flux limits. The predictions are given by the integration of models for the angular correlation function w ( θ ) for three different functional forms of the redshift distribution N ( z ), different spatial correlation functions that match the observed present-day shape and by different evolutions of the bias b ( z ) with redshift. We also consider the two cases of open and flat universes. Although the predicted w ( θ ) show substantial differences because of differences in the values of N ( z ), these differences are not significant compared to the uncertainties in the current observations. It turns out that, independent of the geometry of the universe and the flux limit, the best fit is provided by models with constant biasing at all times, although the difference between models with epoch-independent bias and models with bias that evolves linearly with redshift is not very large. All models with strong evolution of bias with epoch are ruled out, as they grossly overestimate the amplitude of the variance over the whole range of angular scales sampled by the counts-in-cells analysis. As a further step we directly calculated w _obs( θ ) at 3 mJy from the catalogue and matched it with our models for the angular correlation function, in the hypothesis that the clustering signal comes from two different populations, namely AGN-powered sources and starbursting galaxies. The results are consistent with a scenario for hierarchical clustering where the fainter starbursting galaxies trace the mass at all epochs, while the brighter AGNs are strongly biased, with b ( z ) evolving linearly with redshift, as suggested by some theories of galaxy formation and evolution.     

Long-term Variability Properties of Mkn501

Optical photometric observations at the I and R wavebands were carried out towards Mkn501 using the 1.56 meter optical telescope of Shanghai Astronomical Observatory at Sheshan. Combining our new observations with the published historical data, we have obtained the light curves of Mkn501 at the optical, infrared and radio wavebands with a time coverage of nearly 80 years. The relationship between the light variability and the color index is discussed, it is found that a strong correlation exists between the color indices (B − V) and (B − R), with the correlation coefficient reaching r = 0.73. The correlations of multi-band light variabilities are analyzed by the DCF method, it is found that certain positive correlations of B-band light variability with the 4.8 GHz and infrared light variabilities exist. And the spectral analysis on the B-band light curve with the CLEANest method indicates that the light curve of Mkn501 contains probably two periodical components of (10.06 ± 0.04) yr and (21.60 ± 0.17) yr.     

Full-wave VLF modes in a cylindrically symmetric enhancement of plasma density

VLF waves in the magnetosphere may be guided by ducts, i.e. enhancements of plasma density aligned with the geomagnetic field. It is required to account for the good transmission properties of these ducts as some leakage of energy is expected, with consequent attenuation. We consider a cylindrical duct, whose axis is parallel to a uniform magnetic field. The electron density of a cold plasma is a function only of radial distance r from the axis, taking constant values in inner and outer regions r < a and r > b, and varying smoothly in the duct wall a < r < b. We compute full-wave ‘trapped’ VLF modes. Results are presented for a range of values of the parameters of the model. In general we find that attenuation of leading modes is very low, agreeing with observation. Specific features are that leakage (arising from mode conversion in the duct wall) increases as the wall is made thinner, that leakage for the leading modes is less for weaker ducts, that many modes may propagate, and that, because of interference effects, some higher order modes also suffer little attenuation.     

The cosmological constant and the clusters of galaxies

The dependence of the formation redshift of clusters of galaxies on the cosmological constant is discussed on the basis of recent measurements of gravitational masses and radii from X-ray astronomy techniques. For a flat CDM model with several different values of the cosmological constant, the cluster number density as a function of the redshift is calculated. Comparing the calculated number density at z − 0 with the observed value limits the spectrum parameter Γ to the range 0.15–0.32. We also show that if Γ and/or Ω_Λ were larger, many more clusters of galaxies would have been formed at high redshifts.     

The K-band Hubble diagram of submillimetre galaxies and hyperluminous galaxies

We present the K -band Hubble diagrams ( K – z relations) of submillimetre-selected galaxies and hyperluminous galaxies (HLIRGs). We report the discovery of a remarkably tight K – z relation of HLIRGs, indistinguishable from that of the most luminous radio galaxies. Like radio galaxies, the HLIRG K – z relation at   z ≲ 3  is consistent with a passively evolving ∼3 L _* instantaneous starburst starting from a redshift of   z ∼ 10  . In contrast, many submillimetre-selected galaxies are ≳2 mag fainter, and the population has a much larger dispersion. We argue that dust obscuration and/or a larger mass range may be responsible for this scatter. The galaxies so far proved to be hyperluminous may have been biased towards higher AGN bolometric contributions than submillimetre-selected galaxies due to the 60-μm selection of some, so the location on the K – z relation may be related to the presence of the most massive active galactic nucleus. Alternatively, a particular host galaxy mass range may be responsible for both extreme star formation and the most massive active nuclei.     

Orientation of extragalactic radio sources relative to the elliptical galaxies associated with them

The relative orientations of the optical and radio axes of radio galaxies are analyzed using data for 271 objects. It is found that the radio axes correlate with the minor axes of the optical galaxies for more elongated radio galaxies (K > 2.5, where K is the ratio of the lengths of the major and minor axes of the radio image) and for radio galaxies of the class FRII, whereas for less elongated radio galaxies (K < 2.5) and radio galaxies of the class FRI the radio axes correlate with the major axes of the optical galaxy. In both cases the correlation turns out to be more significant when the radio galaxies are classified in terms of their elongation than when they are classified in terms of the Fanaroff-Riley criterion. The classification in terms of elongation of the radio image can therefore be of interest for understanding overall problems associated with the mechanism of formation and evolution of radio galaxies. A theoretical foundation for such a classification may be the alternative mechanism of formation of radio galaxies from relativistic plasma ejected from the central part of the optical galaxy and moving in its large-scale, dipole magnetic field. Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 365–371, July–September, 1999.     

Search for optical identifications in the 5C3-radio survey I. Observations

In this paper the search for optical identifications in the 5C-radio surveys is continued. Near the positions of 135 radio sources of the 5C3 catalogue all present optical objects up to the plate limit (about B ≈︁ 21) have been measured photometrically in UBVr and astrometrically on plates of the 134/200 cm Schmidt telescope of the Karl Schwarzschild Observatory Tautenburg. A total of 111 candidates for possible optical identifications were found. The number of real identifications will be, of course, much smaller. Among the 111 objects there are: 12 supposed QSO's, 21 galaxies or probable galaxies, 56 stellar objects the greater part of which may be main sequence stars, subdwarfs and white dwarfs, and I object may be the centre of an H II region in the OB-association OB 182. 21 objects near the plate limit could not be classified. A statistical treatment with information on the real rate of identification (it roughly will amount to about 10%) and its reliability will be given in part III.     

Identification and properties of host galaxies of RCR radio sources

FIRST and NVSS radio maps are used to cross identify the radio sources of the RCR catalog, which is based on observational data obtained in several runs of the “Cold” survey, with the SDSS and DPOSS digital optical sky surveys and the 2MASS, LAS UKIDSS, and WISE infrared surveys. Digital images in various filters and the coadded gri-band SDSS images, red and infrared DPOSS images, JHK-band UKIDSS images, and JHK-band 2MASS images are analyzed for the sources with no optical candidates found in the above catalogs. Our choice of optical candidates was based on the data on the structure of the radio source, its photometry, and spectroscopy (where available). We found reliable identifications for 86% of the radio sources; possible counterparts for 8% of the sources, and failed to find any optical counterparts for 6% of the sources because their host objects proved to be fainter than the limiting magnitude of the corresponding surveys. A little over half of all the identifications proved to be galaxies; about one quarter were quasars, and the types of the remaining objects were difficult to determine because of their faintness. A relation between the luminosity and the radioloudness index was derived and used to estimate the 1.4 and 3.94 GHz luminosities for the sources with unknown redshifts. We found 3% and 60% of all the RCR radio sources to be FRI-type objects (L ? 10²⁴ W/Hz at 1.4 GHz) and powerful FRII-type galaxies (L ? 10^26.5 W/Hz), respectively, whereas the rest are sources including objects of the FRI, FRII, and mixed FRI-FRII types. Unlike quasars, galaxies show a trend of decreasing luminosity with decreasing flux density. Note that identification would be quite problematic without the software and resources of the virtual observatory.     

Constraining cosmological models with cluster power spectra

Using extensive N-body simulations we estimate redshift space power spectra of clusters of galaxies for different cosmological models (SCDM, TCDM, CHDM, ΛCDM, OCDM, BSI, τCDM) and compare the results with observational data for Abell–ACO clusters. Our mock samples of galaxy clusters have the same geometry and selection functions as the observational sample which contains 417 clusters of galaxies in a double cone of galactic latitude |b|>30° up to a depth of 240 h⁻¹ Mpc. The power spectrum has been estimated for wave numbers k in the range 0.03k0.2 h Mpc⁻¹. For k>k_max0.05 h Mpc⁻¹ the power spectrum of the Abell–ACO clusters has a power-law shape, P(k)∝kⁿ, with n≈−1.9, while it changes sharply to a positive slope at k<k_max. By comparison with the mock catalogues SCDM, TCDM (n=0.9), and also OCDM with Ω₀=0.35 are rejected. Better agreement with observation can be found for the ΛCDM model with Ω₀=0.35 and h=0.7 and the CHDM model with two degenerate neutrinos and Ω_HDM=0.2 as well as for a CDM model with broken scale invariance (BSI) and the τCDM model. As for the peak in the Abell–ACO cluster power spectrum, we find that it does not represent a very unusual finding within the set of mock samples extracted from our simulations.     

1–5 μm imaging of 3CRR galaxies: the K–z relation and the geometry of the torus

It has been claimed by Taylor et al. that the low-redshift end of the K – z relation for radio galaxies is too bright by about half a magnitude owing to contributions from the obscured quasar nuclei. Such a result has major implications for the use of the K -band Hubble diagram in understanding the cosmological evolution of radio galaxies. In this paper we present 1–5-μm imaging data of a nearly complete sample of low-redshift radio galaxies; this approach allows us to determine accurately the strengths of any unresolved nuclear components in the galaxies. We detect nuclear sources in five targets, whose broad-band colours are consistent with reddened quasar spectra. In all the five cases the ratio of the inferred intrinsic near-infrared luminosity to the narrow-line luminosity is typical of quasars. We find a correlation between the inferred nuclear extinction and core-to-lobe ratio, which places constraints on the geometry of the torus. We find evidence for a shift of the K – z relation to fainter magnitudes, but by a much smaller amount (∼0.1 mag) than determined by Taylor et al. Under the assumption that the nuclear sources in radio galaxies have the same intrinsic near-infrared spectra as quasars, our multiwavelength images allow us to limit any possible shift to less than 0.3 mag.     

Optical spectroscopy of two overlapping, flux-density-limited samples of radio sources in the North Ecliptic Cap, selected at 38 and 151 MHz

We present the results of optical spectroscopy of two flux-density-limited samples of radio sources selected at frequencies of 38 and 151 MHz in the same region around the North Ecliptic Cap, the 8C-NEC and 7C- iii samples respectively. Both samples are selected at flux density levels ≈20 times fainter than samples based on the 3C catalogue. They are amongst the first low-frequency selected samples with no spectral or angular size selection for which almost complete redshift information has been obtained, and contain many of the lowest-luminosity z >2 radio galaxies so far discovered. They will therefore provide a valuable resource for understanding the cosmic evolution of radio sources and their hosts and environments. The 151-MHz 7C- iii sample is selected to have S ₁₅₁≥0.5 Jy and is the more spectroscopically complete; out of 54 radio sources fairly reliable redshifts have been obtained for 44 objects. The 8C sample has a flux limit of S ₃₈≥1.3 Jy and contains 58 sources of which 46 have fairly reliable redshifts. We discuss possible biases in the observed redshift distribution, and some interesting individual objects, including a number of cases of probable gravitational lensing. Using the 8C-NEC and 7C- iii samples in conjunction, we form the first sample selected on low-frequency flux in the rest-frame of the source, rather than the usual selection on flux density in the observed frame. This allows us to remove the bias associated with an increasing rest-frame selection frequency with redshift. We investigate the difference this selection makes to correlations of radio source properties with redshift and luminosity by comparing the results from traditional flux-density selection with our new method. We show in particular that flux-density-based selection leads to an overestimate of the steepness of the correlation of radio source size with redshift.