Statistics of interacting galaxies at <Emphasis Type="Italic">z</Emphasis> ∼ 0.7

We present the results of our analysis of the frequencies of galaxies with tidal tails and M51-type galaxies in several deep fields of the Hubble Space Telescope (HDF-N, HDF-S, HUDF, GOODS, GEMS). In total, we have found about seven hundred interacting galaxies at redshifts z ≤ 1.5 in these fields. At z ≤ 0.7, the observed space densities of galaxies with tidal structures and M51-type galaxies have been found to increase as ∝(1 + z) ^m , where m ≈ 2.6. According to our estimates, over the last 6–7 Gyr, i.e., at z ≤ 0.7, about a third of the galaxies with M(B) ≤ −18 ^m must have undergone strong gravitational perturbations and mergers and ∼1/10−1/5 of the galaxies have swallowed relatively low-mass nearby satellites typical of M51-type galaxies. The possible decrease in the time scale on which a distant galaxy appears peculiar with growing z can increase considerably the estimated rate of mergers.     

On the characteristics of tidal structures of interacting galaxies

We present the results of our analysis of the geometrical tidal tail characteristics for nearby and distant interacting galaxies. The sample includes more than two hundred nearby galaxies and about seven hundred distant ones. The distant galaxies have been selected in several deep fields of the Hubble Space Telescope (HDF-N, HDF-S, HUDF, GOODS, GEMS) and they are at mean redshift 〈z〉 = 0.65. We analyze the distributions of lengths and thicknesses for the tidal structures and show that the tails in distant galaxies appear shorter than those in nearby ones. This effect can be partly attributed to observational selection, but, on the other hand, it may result from the general evolution of the sizes of spiral galaxies with z. The positions of interacting galaxies on the galaxy luminosity (L)-tidal tail length (l) plane are shown to be explained by a simple geometrical model, with the upper envelope of the observed distribution being \(l \propto \sqrt L\). We have solved the problem on the relationship between the observed distribution of tail flatting and the tail length in angular measure by assuming the tidal tails to be arcs of circumferences visible at arbitrary angles to the line of sight. We conclude that the angular length of the tidal tails visually distinguished in nearby and distant galaxies, on average, exceeds 180°.     

Pitch angles of distant spiral galaxies

We have studied the pitch angles of spiral arms for 31 distant galaxies at z ∼ 0.7 from three Hubble Deep Fields (HDF-N, HDF-S, HUDF). Using the pitch angle-rotation velocity relation calibrated from nearby galaxies, we have estimated the rotation velocities of galaxies from the deep fields. These estimates have a low accuracy (∼50 km s⁻¹), but they allow low-mass and giant galaxies to be distinguished. The Tully-Fisher relation constructed using our velocity estimates shows satisfactory agreement with the actually observed relations for distant galaxies and provides evidence for the luminosity evolution of spiral galaxies.     

Candidate high-redshift and primeval galaxies in Hubble Deep Field South

We present the results of colour selection of candidate high-redshift galaxies in Hubble Deep Field South (HDF-S) using the Lyman dropout scheme. The HDF-S data we discuss were taken in a number of different filters extending from the near-UV (F300W) to the infrared (F222M) in two different fields. This allows us to select candidates with redshifts from z ∼3 to z ∼12. We find 15 candidate z ∼3 objects (F300W dropouts), one candidate z ∼4 object (F450W dropout) and 16 candidate z ∼5 objects (F606W dropouts) in the ∼4.7‐arcmin² WFPC-2 field, and four candidate z ∼6 objects (optical dropouts) and one candidate z ∼8 object (F110W dropout) in the 0.84-arcmin² NICMOS-3 field. No F160W dropouts are found ( z ∼12). We compare our selection technique with existing data for Hubble Deep Field North (HDF-N) and discuss alternative interpretations of the objects. We conclude that there are a number of lower redshift interlopers in the selections, including one previously identified object, and reject those objects most likely to be foreground contaminants. Even after this we conclude that the F606W dropout list is likely to still contain substantial foreground contamination. The lack of candidate very-high-redshift UV-luminous galaxies supports earlier conclusions by Lanzetta et al. We discuss the morphologies and luminosity functions of the high-redshift objects, and their cosmological implications.     

Tidal dwarf galaxies at intermediate redshifts

We present the first attempt at measuring the production rate of tidal dwarf galaxies (TDGs) and estimating their contribution to the overall dwarf population. Using HST/ACS deep imaging data from GOODS and GEMS surveys in conjunction with photometric redshifts from COMBO-17 survey, we performed a morphological analysis for a sample of merging/interacting galaxies in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South and identified tidal dwarf candidates in the rest-frame optical bands. We estimated a production rate about 1.4×10⁻⁵ per Gyr per comoving volume for long-lived TDGs with stellar mass 3×10⁸⁻⁹ M_⊙ at 0.5<z<1.1. Together with galaxy merger rates and TDG survival rate from the literature, our results suggest that only a marginal fraction (less than 10%) of dwarf galaxies in the local universe could be tidally-originated. TDGs in our sample are on average bluer than their host galaxies in the optical. Stellar population modelling of optical to near-infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for two TDGs favors a burst component with age 400/200 Myr and stellar mass 40%/26% of the total, indicating that a young stellar population newly formed in TDGs. This is consistent with the episodic star formation histories found for nearby TDGs.     

Host galaxy morphologies of X-ray selected AGN: assessing the significance of different black hole fuelling mechanisms to the accretion density of the Universe at z∼ 1.

We use morphological information of X-ray selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) hosts to set limits on the fraction of the accretion density of the Universe at   z ≈ 1  that is not likely to be associated with major mergers. Deep X-ray observations are combined with high-resolution optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope in the All-wavelength Extended Groth strip International Survey, Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) North and GOODS South fields to explore the morphological breakdown of X-ray sources in the redshift interval  0.5 < z < 1.3  . The sample is split into discs, early-type bulge-dominated galaxies, peculiar systems and point sources in which the nuclear source outshines the host galaxy. The X-ray luminosity function and luminosity density of AGN at   z ≈ 1  are then calculated as a function of morphological type. We find that disc-dominated hosts contribute  30 ± 9  per cent to the total AGN space density and  23 ± 6  per cent to the luminosity density at   z ≈ 1  . We argue that AGN in disc galaxies are most likely fuelled not by major merger events but by minor interactions or internal instabilities. We find evidence that these mechanisms may be more efficient in producing luminous AGN     compared to predictions for the stochastic fuelling of massive black holes in disc galaxies.     

HUDF 1619—A candidate for polar-ring galaxies in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field

A galaxy that is a good candidate for polar-ring galaxies has been detected in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF). The galaxy HUDF 1619 (V ≈ 25 ^m , z ～ 1) is the most distant object of this type known to date. A large-scale structure crosses the highly warped disk of the main galaxy seen almost edge-on at an angle of about 70°. The luminosity of this structure (the possible polar ring) reaches ～1/3 of the luminosity of the central galaxy. A strong absorption lane is seen in the region where this structure is projected onto the disk of the central object. There are two galaxies of comparable luminosity adjacent to HUDF 1619 (in projection). One of them may be the donor galaxy the interaction with which gave rise to the ring structure.     

A catalogue of M51 type galaxy associations

A catalog of 232 apparently interacting galaxy pairs of the M51 class is presented. Catalog members were identified from visual inspection of multi-band images in the IRSA archive. The major findings in the compilation of this catalog are (1) A surprisingly low number of the main galaxies in M51 systems are early type spirals and barred spirals. (2) Over 70% of the main galaxies in M51 systems are 2-armed spirals. (3) Some systems that were classified as M51 types in previous studies are not M51 types as defined in this catalog. There were a number of systems previously classified as M51 systems for which the “companion” is identified as an HII region within the main galaxy or foreground star within the Milky Way. (4) It was found that only 18% of the M51 type companions have redshift measurements in the literature. There is a significant need for spectroscopic study of the companions in order to improve the value of the catalog as a sample for studying the effects of M51 type interaction on galaxy dynamics, morphology, and star formation. Further spectroscopy will also help constrain the statistics of possible chance projections between foreground and background galaxies in the catalog. The catalog also contains over 430 additional systems which are classified as “possible M51” systems. The reasons for classifying certain systems as possible M51 systems are discussed.     

The GLARE Survey – II. Faint z≈ 6 Lyα line emitters in the HUDF

The galaxy population at   z ≈ 6  has been the subject of intense study in recent years, culminating in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) – the deepest imaging survey yet. A large number of high-redshift galaxy candidates have been identified within the HUDF, but until now analysis of their properties has been hampered by the difficulty of obtaining spectroscopic redshifts for these faint galaxies. Our 'Gemini Lyman-Alpha at Reionization Era' (GLARE) project has been designed to undertake spectroscopic follow-up of faint  ( z ' < 28.5)  i '-drop galaxies at   z ≈ 6  in the HUDF. In a previous paper we presented preliminary results from the first 7.5 h of data from GLARE. In this paper we detail the complete survey. We have now obtained 36 h of spectroscopy on a single GMOS slitmask from Gemini-South, with a spectral resolution of  λ/Δλ_FWHM≈ 1000  . We identify five strong Lyα emitters at   z > 5.5  , and a further nine possible line emitters with detections at lower significance. We also place tight constraints on the equivalent width of Lyα emission for a further ten i '-drop galaxies and examine the equivalent width distribution of this faint spectroscopic sample of   z ≈ 6  galaxies. We find that the fraction of galaxies with little or no emission is similar to that at   z ≈ 3  , but that the   z ≈ 6  population has a tail of sources with high rest-frame equivalent widths. Possible explanations for this effect include a tendency towards stronger line emission in faint sources, which may arise from extreme youth or low metallicity in the Lyman-break population at high redshift, or possibly a top-heavy initial mass function.     

Tidal structures of z ∼ 1 galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field

An analysis of the images of objects in the Northern Hubble Space Telescope Deep Field has revealed twelve galaxies with tidal tails at redshifts from 0.5 to 1.5. The integrated characteristics of the newly discovered tidal structures are found to be similar to those of the tails of local interacting galaxies. The space density of galaxies with tidal tails is found to depend on z as (1+z)^4±1(q ₀=0.05), according to the data on objects with z=0.5–1.0. The exponent decreases to 3.6 if barred galaxies are included. The change in the rate of close encounters between galaxies of comparable masses (i.e., those that produce extended tidal structures) is estimated. If the rate of galactic mergers is governed by the same process, our data are indicative of the rapid evolution of galaxy merger rate toward z ～ 1.     

Spectrophotometric Study of Galaxies with UV Excess

Results from a spectrophotometric study of 21 galaxies with UV excess are presented. The half widths (FWHM) and equivalent widths of observed spectrum lines of these galaxies, as well as the relative intensities of the emission lines observed in the spectrum of the galaxy Kaz243, are determined. It is conjectured that the latter galaxy has the properties of an Sy2 type galaxy. The electron densities and masses of the gaseous components are found for 15 galaxies, along with the masses of 8 galaxies for which the ratio M/L has been calculated. It is shown that the spectral structures of these galaxies do not depend on whether they are members of physical systems or are isolated.     

The role of magnetic fields in extragalactic astronomy

The evidence is reviewed for a universal magnetic field of strength 10^–9–10^–8G; it has been extended to include the diffuse fields of galactic clusters and the extensive magnetic halos of spiral galaxies. Some likely effects of the universal fieldB ₀ are as follows: (1) As suggested previously,B ₀ is coupled to protogalaxies and evolves into magnetic structures which depend on the angle between the field and the gas rotational axis. These provide the blueprints for the various types of the Hubble sequence, (ii) The relatively few grand-design spiral galaxies result from tidal interactioon (M51-type), but normal spirals form as a result of the spiral oblique field) magnetic blueprint acting on sheared gravitational instabilities (Goldreich and Lynden-Bell). (iii) The model explains the prevalent warped galactic disks and perhaps their flat H1 rotation curves. (iv) A variety of puzzling H1 concentrations may have hydromagnetic explanations; they include the high-velocity clouds, streamers, rings and central systems. (v) Clusters of galaxies are known to have diffuse magnetic fields, and these are likely to explain the absence of spiral galaxies and the nature of the intracluster gas. (vi) Spiral galaxies are now known to have extensive magnetic halos. These appear explicable only in terms of the universal magnetic field model.     

Vorontsov-Vel’yaminov’s rows in giant spiral galaxies: Geometrical properties and physical interpretation

A phenomenon discovered by Vorontsov-Vel’yaminov — straight segments in the spiral structure of giant galaxies — is studied. The main geometrical and physical characteristics of these structures are demonstrated using the example of the galaxies M101 and especially M51. It is shown that rows alternate with regular spiral arms over almost their entire extent in M101, M51, and a number of other galaxies. The relationship between rows and straight warm dust lanes at the inner edges of spiral arms is traced. Assuming these dust lanes to be gas layers compressed by a spiral shock wave, the possibility that rows are formed in local segments of the spiral shock front that are being flattened is discussed. New observational facts about rows support the quantitative consequences of this gasdynamical picture. Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 41. No. 4, pp. 609–622, October–December, 1998.     

On the Andromeda to Milky Way mass ratio

We have explored the hypothesis that the total mass ratio of the two main galaxies of the Local Group, the Andromeda galaxy (M31) and the Milky Way (MW), can be constrained by measuring the tidal force induced by the surrounding mass distribution, M31 included, on the MW. We argue that the total mass ratio between the two groups can be approximated, at least qualitatively, by finding the tidal radius where the internal binding force of the MW balances the external tidal force acting on it. Since M31 is the massive tidal 'perturber' of the local environment, we have used a wide range of M31 to MW mass-ratio combinations to compute the corresponding tidal radii. Of these, only a few match the distance of the zero-tidal shell, i.e. the shell identified observationally by the outermost dwarf galaxies which do not show any sign of tidal effects. This is the key to constraining the best mass-ratio interval of the two galaxies. Our results favour a solution where the mass ratio ranges from 2 to 3, implying a massive predominance of M31.     

Can the unresolved X-ray background be explained by the emission from the optically-detected faint galaxies of the GOODS project?

The emission from individual X-ray sources in the Chandra Deep Fields and XMM – Newton Lockman Hole shows that almost half of the hard X-ray background above 6 keV is unresolved and implies the existence of a missing population of heavily obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN). We have stacked the 0.5–8 keV X-ray emission from optical sources in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS; which covers the Chandra Deep Fields) to determine whether these galaxies, which are individually undetected in X-rays, are hosting the hypothesized missing AGN. In the 0.5–6 keV energy range, the stacked-source emission corresponds to the remaining 10–20 per cent of the total background – the fraction that has not been resolved by Chandra . The spectrum of the stacked emission is consistent with starburst activity or weak AGN emission. In the 6–8 keV band, we find that upper limits to the stacked X-ray intensity from the GOODS galaxies are consistent with the ∼40 per cent of the total background that remains unresolved, but further selection refinement is required to identify the X-ray sources and confirm their contribution.     

Interaction-induced star formation in a complete sample of 105 nearby star-forming galaxies

We investigate the clustering properties of a complete sample of 10⁵ star-forming galaxies drawn from the data release 4 (DR4) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. On scales less than 100 kpc, the amplitude of the correlation function exhibits a strong dependence on the specific star formation rate (SSFR) of the galaxy. We interpret this as the signature of enhanced star formation induced by tidal interactions. We then explore how the average star formation rate (SFR) in a galaxy is enhanced as the projected separation r _p between the galaxy and its companions decreases. We find that the enhancement strongly depends on r _p, but very weakly on the relative luminosity of the companions. The enhancement is also stronger in low-mass galaxies than in high-mass galaxies. In order to explore whether a tidal interaction is not only sufficient, but also necessary to trigger enhanced star formation in a galaxy, we compute background subtracted neighbour counts for the galaxies in our sample. The average number of close neighbours around galaxies with low to average values of SFR/ M _* is close to zero. At the highest SSFRs, however, more than 40 per cent of the galaxies in our sample have a companion within a projected radius of 100 kpc. Visual inspection of the highest SFR/ M _* galaxies without companions reveals that more than 50 per cent of these are clear interacting or merging systems. We conclude that tidal interactions are the dominant trigger of enhanced star formation in the most strongly star-forming systems. Finally, we find clear evidence that tidal interactions not only lead to enhanced star formation in galaxies, but also cause structural changes such as an increase in concentration.     

The influence of large-scale structures on halo shapes and alignments

Alignments of galaxy clusters (the Binggeli effect), as well as of galaxies themselves have long been studied both observationally and theoretically. Here, we test the influence of large-scale structures and tidal fields on the shapes and alignments of cluster-size and galaxy-size dark matter haloes. We use a high-resolution N -body simulation of a Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) universe, together with the results of Colberg, Krughoff & Connolly, who identified filaments connecting pairs of clusters. We find that cluster pairs connected by a filament are strongly aligned with the cluster–cluster axis, whereas unconnected ones are not. For smaller, galaxy-size haloes, there also is an alignment signal, but its strength is independent of whether the halo is part of an obvious large-scale structure. Additionally, we find no measurable dependence of galaxy halo shape on membership of a filament. We also quantify the influence of tidal fields and find that these do correlate strongly with alignments of haloes. The alignments of most haloes are thus caused by tidal fields, with cluster-size haloes being strongly aligned through the added mechanism of infall of matter from filaments.     

Global properties of nearby galaxies in various environments

We analyze a sample of the Local Volume that contains 451 galaxies within 10 Mpc. We compare the various global parameters of these galaxies with their tidal index that characterizes the local density of the environment. The closest correlation is observed between the density of the galaxy’s environment and its morphological type. The abundance of neutral hydrogen in the members of close groups was found to be, on average, a factor of 3 lower than that in isolated galaxies. However, much of this difference is attributable to different morphological composition for the group members and field galaxies. The total mass-to-luminosity ratio is virtually independent of the tidal index of the galaxy, which indirectly indicates a low percentage of tidal systems among dwarf galaxies. All of the galaxies with three or more companions in the Local Volume are shown to have masses above the threshold value of 10¹⁰M_⊙.     

Vorontsov-Velyaminov rows: Straight segments in the spiral arms of galaxies

The phenomenon of rows—straight features in the spiral patterns of galaxies, which was discovered by Vorontsov-Velyaminov, is investigated. The rows are not artifacts; in several cases, they outline regular spiral arms almost over their entire lengths. The galaxies M 101, M 51, and a number of more distant spirals are used as examples to demonstrate major geometrical and physical properties of these structures. It is shown that the row lengths increase nearly linearly with distance from the disk center, and that the angle between adjacent rows is almost always close to 2π/3. The galaxies with rows generally belong to moderate-luminosity Sbc-Sc systems with low rotational velocities, regular spiral patterns (Grand Design), and an H I content normal for these types of galaxies. Two types of rows are shown to exist, which differ in thickness and appear to be evolutionarily related. The formation mechanism of the rows should probably be sought in the peculiar behavior of the gas-compression wave in spiral density waves.