The peculiar motions of early-type galaxies in two distant regions – VI. The maximum-likelihood Gaussian algorithm

The EFAR project is designed to measure the properties and peculiar motions of early-type galaxies in two distant regions. Here we describe the maximum-likelihood algorithm we developed to investigate the correlations between the parameters of the EFAR data base. One-, two- and three-dimensional Gaussian models are constructed to determine the mean value and intrinsic spread of the parameters, and the slopes and intrinsic parallel and orthogonal spread of the Mg₂–Mg b ', Mg₂– σ , Mg b '– σ relations, and the Fundamental Plane. In the latter case, the cluster peculiar velocities are also determined. We show that this method is superior to 'canonical' approaches of least-squares type, which give biased slopes and biased peculiar velocities. We test the algorithm with Monte Carlo simulations of mock EFAR catalogues, and derive the systematic and random errors on the estimated parameters. We find that random errors are always dominant. We estimate the influence of systematic errors resulting from the way clusters were selected, and the hard limits and uncertainties in the selection function parameters for the galaxies. We explore the influence of uniform distributions in the Fundamental Plane parameters and the errors. We conclude that the mean peculiar motions of the EFAR clusters can be determined reliably. In particular, the placement of the two EFAR sample regions relative to the Lauer & Postman dipole allows us to constrain strongly the amplitude of the bulk motion in this direction. We justify a posteriori the use of a Gaussian modelling for the galaxy distribution in the Fundamental Plane space, by showing that the mean likelihood of the EFAR sample is obtained in 10 to 30 per cent of our simulations. We derive the analytical solution for the maximum-likelihood Gaussian problem in N dimensions in the presence of small errors.     

The Fundamental Plane for early-type galaxies: dependence on the magnitude range

Studying three samples of early-type galaxies, which include approximately 8800 galaxies and cover a relatively ample magnitude range  (〈Δ M 〉∼ 5.5 mag)  , we find that the coefficients as well as the intrinsic dispersion of the Fundamental Plane depend on the width and brightness of the magnitude range within which the galaxies are distributed. We analyse this dependence, and the results show that it is due to the fact that the distribution of galaxies in the space defined by the variables     depends on the luminosity.     

Quantitative Study of Galaxy Morphology

We use an automatic algorithm to fit two-dimensional bulge and disk surface brightness profiles to a sample of 200 Sloan Digital Sky Survey Early Data Release (SDSS EDR) galaxies of known redshift and brighter than r=16. The bulge-to-disk (B/D) luminosity ratios can be combined with an estimate of the galaxy's local environment to address a number of key issues that are central to our understanding of galaxy formation:– How do B/D ratios depend upon galaxy luminosity?– What are the disk and spheroid luminosity functions for field galaxies?– How does the total luminosity in bulges and disks depend on environment?     

The Fundamental Plane of E Galaxies in Compact Groups

We present a study focusing on the nature of compact groups through the study of their elliptical galaxies. We determine central velocity dispersions (σ_o) for 18 bright elliptical galaxies located in the core of Hickson compact groups and a control sample of 12 brightbona fide ellipticals located in the field or very loose groups. Several tests are carried out to avoid systematic effects in σ measurements. We use these velocity dispersions to compare the position of 11 compact group galaxies in the Fundamental Plane to that of a large and homogeneous sample of elliptical galaxies (Burstein et al., 1987).We find that little or no significant difference exists, as far as the Fundamental Plane is concerned, between ellipticals in compact groups and their counterparts in other environments. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

盘星系的内禀扁度研究

盘星系的内禀扁度对计算星系的空间倾角非常重要．对从LEDA数据库中选取的14988个盘星系进行内禀扁度的统计分析．研究表明，盘星系的内禀扁度与星系的形态密切相关．整体上说，透镜星系和不规则星系的内禀扁度qo大于旋涡星系，早型旋涡星系的内禀扁度qo大于晚型旋涡星系，其中Scd星系的内禀扁度qo最小．利用所得的qo-T关系，还对16个已知倾角的亮星系进行了倾角计算，发现与其他方法估计的空间倾角符合得较好．     

The Evolutionary Status of Early-type Galaxies in Abell 2390

We explore the evolution of the early-type galaxy population in the rich cluster Abell 2390 at z=0.23. For this purpose, we have obtained spectroscopic data of 51 elliptical and lenticular galaxies with MOSCA at the 3.5 m telescope on Calar Alto Observatory. As our investigation spans both a broad range in luminosity (–22.3≤M_B≤–:19.3)and a wide field of view (10′×10′), the environmental dependence of different formation scenarios can be analysed in detail as a function of radius from the cluster center. In this paper, we present first results on the Faber-Jackson relation and, for a subsample of 14 galaxies with morphological and structural parameters from HST, we also investigate the evolution of the Kormendy relation and the Fundamental Plane. We find a mild luminosity evolution of the early-type galaxies in Abell 2390: our objects are on average brighter by m _B∼0.4 mag. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Streaming motions of galaxy clusters within 12 000 km s−1– I. New spectroscopic data

We present new spectroscopic data for 532 early-type galaxies, predominantly Abell cluster members with cz <12 000 km s⁻¹. We tabulate 919 individual measurements, from six observing runs, for recession velocity, cz , central velocity dispersion, σ , and magnesium line-strength indices, Mg₂ and Mg b . The median estimated error, per measurement, in σ is 5 per cent. The Mg₂ line-strength data have median errors of 0.009 mag. The observed scatter between repeat measurements is largely accounted for by photon-counting errors. These data will be employed in forthcoming papers, where they will form part of a merged and standardized catalogue of Fundamental Plane data for use in cluster distance estimates and peculiar velocity analyses.     

Edge‐on disk galaxies in the SDSS DR6: Fractions of bulgeless and other disk galaxies

The aim of this study is to determine the fractions of different spiral galaxy types, especially bulgeless disks, from a complete and homogeneous sample of 15 127 edge‐on disk galaxies extracted from the sixth data release from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The sample is divided in broad morphological classes and sub types consisting of galaxies with bulges, intermediate types and galaxies which appear bulgeless. A small fraction of disky irregulars is also detected. The morphological separation is based on automated classification criteria which resemble the bulge sizes and the flatness of the disks. Each of these broad classes contains about 1/3 of the total sample. Using strict criteria for selecting pure bulgeless galaxies leads to a fraction of 15% of simple disk galaxies. We compare this fraction to other galaxy catalogs and find an excellent agreement of the observed frequency of bulgeless galaxies. Although the fraction of simple disk galaxies in this study does not represent a “cosmic” fraction of bulgeless galaxies, it shows that the relative abundance of pure disks is comparable to other studies and offers a profound value of the frequency of simple disks in the local Universe. This fraction of simple disks emphasizes the challenge for formation and evolution models of disk galaxies since these models are hard pressed to explain the observed frequency of these objects (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The peculiar motions of early-type galaxies in two distant regions – VII. Peculiar velocities and bulk motions

We present peculiar velocities for 85 clusters of galaxies in two large volumes at distances between 6000 and 15 000 km s⁻¹ in the directions of Hercules–Corona Borealis and Perseus–Pisces–Cetus (the EFAR sample). These velocities are based on Fundamental Plane (FP) distance estimates for early-type galaxies in each cluster. We fit the FP using a maximum likelihood algorithm which accounts for both selection effects and measurement errors, and yields FP parameters with smaller bias and variance than other fitting procedures. We obtain a best-fitting FP with coefficients consistent with the best existing determinations. We measure the bulk motions of the sample volumes using the 50 clusters with the best-determined peculiar velocities. We find that the bulk motions in both regions are small, and consistent with zero at about the 5 per cent level. The EFAR results are in agreement with the small bulk motions found by Dale et al. on similar scales, but are inconsistent with pure dipole motions having the large amplitudes found by Lauer & Postman and Hudson et al. The alignment of the EFAR sample with the Lauer & Postman dipole produces a strong rejection of a large-amplitude bulk motion in that direction, but the rejection of the Hudson et al. result is less certain because their dipole lies at a large angle to the main axis of the EFAR sample. We employ a window function covariance analysis to make a detailed comparison of the EFAR peculiar velocities with the predictions of standard cosmological models. We find that the bulk motion of our sample is consistent with most cosmological models that approximately reproduce the shape and normalization of the observed galaxy power spectrum. We conclude that existing measurements of large-scale bulk motions provide no significant evidence against standard models for the formation of structure.     

早型旋涡星系M81 (NGC 3031)的形态学解构研究

利用星系解构软件GALFIT通过面亮度轮廓拟合对近邻早型旋涡星系M81 (NGC 3031)进行形态学解构,旨在探究M81星系的结构组成并对其进行形态学量化.通过6种解构模式,对M81进行了不同复杂程度的结构分解,其中最复杂的解构模式包含核球、盘、外旋臂、内旋臂、星系核5个子结构.研究结果显示, M81有一个Sérsic指数约为5.0的经典核球,其形态和光度在不同解构模式中均保持稳定; M81星系盘的Sérsic指数约为1.2,但它的形态参数和光度与是否分解内旋臂相关.不同子结构的组合对作为混合体的星系整体的形态有不可忽视的影响.星系解构的结果提供了不同解构模式适用性的建议:其中核球+盘+星系核的三成分解构适用于大样本星系的核-盘研究;而考虑旋臂的复杂解构则适合于对星系子结构的精确测量,如小样本(或个源)研究.基于Spitzer-The Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) 4.5μm的单波段图像的形态学解构研究是后续一系列研究的开始,在此基础上未来将会对M81进行多波段解构,同时研究不同子结构的光谱能量分布和星族性质,并推断M81各子结构的形成历史和演化过程.     

Radio observations of early-type galaxies with dust lanes

Radio and optical images of early-type galaxies with dust lanes have been analyzed in order to investigate the characteristics of the radio emission and to compare it with their properties at other frequencies. Except three galaxies, the remaining sources of our sample have diffuse radio emission, which does not extend beyond the stellar disk. The radio structures are small and weak (linear sizes in the range 2–10 kpc and radio powers in the range 5×10²⁰–5×10²¹W Hz^–1). Our preliminary results show that in a minority of cases (the most powerful radio sources) radio emission originates in the associated galactic nuclei, where a massive black hole is harboured. On the contrary, in the less powerful among our radio galaxies, sources originating from stellar phenomena may play and important role. We have classified the galaxies with respect to the dust lane morphology, comparing it with the radio emission. The sample is too small in order to reach firm conclusions, but the lack of radio sources in early-type galaxies with dust lanes along the galaxy minor axis seems to suggest that the accretion of material does not reach the conditions necessary to trigger nuclear activity.Paper presented at the 11th European Regional Astronomical Meetings of the IAU on New Windows to the Universe, held 3–8 July, 1989, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.     

The properties of field elliptical galaxies at intermediate redshift – II. Photometry and spectroscopy of an HST-selected sample

A sample of field early-type galaxies (E/S0) at intermediate redshift ( z ∼0.1–0.6) is selected, based on morphology and colours from HST -WFPC2 parallel images. Photometric structural parameters (effective radius R _e and effective surface brightness SB _e) are derived through the F606W and F814W filters, using luminosity profile fitting and two-dimensional fitting techniques. The combined parameter that enters the Fundamental Plane (log  R _e− βSB _e , with β ≈0.32) is shown to suffer from significantly smaller uncertainties (rms 0.03) than the individual structural parameters (e.g. ∼15 per cent rms on the effective radius).
High signal-to-noise ratio, intermediate-resolution spectra, taken at the ESO 3.6-m telescope, yield redshifts for 35 galaxies and central velocity dispersions for 22 galaxies. Central velocity dispersions are derived using a library of stellar templates covering a wide range of spectral types, in order to study the effects of template mismatches. The average random error on the central velocity dispersion is found to be 8 per cent, and the average systematic error caused by template mismatch is found to be 5 per cent. The errors in the velocity dispersion measurement and the effects of template mismatches are studied by means of extensive Monte Carlo simulations. In addition, we investigate whether the determination of the velocity dispersion is sensitive to the spectral range used, finding that the value of velocity dispersion is unchanged when the spectral regions that include the absorption features Ca H and K and NaD are masked out during the fit.     

Spectroscopic constraints on the stellar population of elliptical galaxies in the Coma cluster

Near-infrared spectra for a sample of 31 elliptical galaxies in the Coma cluster are obtained. The galaxies are selected to be ellipticals (no lenticulars), with a large spatial distribution, covering both the core and outskirts of the cluster (i.e. corresponding to regions with large density contrasts). CO_sp (2.3-μm) absorption indices, measuring the contribution from intermediate-age red giant and supergiant stars to the near-infrared light of the ellipticals, are then estimated.
It is found that the strength of CO_sp features in elliptical galaxies increases from the core ( r <02) to the outskirts ( r >02) of the Coma cluster. Using the Mg₂ strengths, it is shown that the observed effect is not caused by metallicity and is mostly caused by the presence of a younger population (giant and supergiant stars) in ellipticals in the outskirts (low-density region) of the cluster.
Using the CO_sp features, the origin of the scatter on the near-infrared Fundamental Plane (the relation between the effective diameter, effective surface brightness and velocity dispersion) of elliptical galaxies is studied. Correcting this relation for contributions from the red giant and supergiant stars, the rms scatter reduces from 0.077 to 0.073 dex. Although measurable, the contribution from these intermediate-age stars to the scatter on the near-infrared Fundamental Plane of ellipticals is only marginal.
A relation is found between the CO_sp and V − K colours of ellipticals, corresponding to a slope of 0.036±0.016, significantly shallower than that from the Mg₂–( V − K ) relation. This is studied using stellar synthesis models.     

Gas in early-type galaxies: cross-fuelling in late-type–early-type pairs?

We present  ¹²CO ( J = 1–0)  and  ¹²CO ( J = 2–1)  observations of eight early-type galaxies, forming part of a sample of interacting galaxies, each consisting of one late- and one early-type system. All of the early-type galaxies observed are undetected in CO to low levels, allowing us to place tight constraints on their molecular gas content. Additionally, we present H  i absorption data for one system. The implications for possible gas transfer from the late- to the early-type galaxy during the interaction are discussed.     

Mass decomposition of galaxies using DECA software package

The new DECA software package, which is designed to perform photometric analysis of the images of disk and elliptical galaxies having a regular structure, is presented. DECA is written in Python interpreted language and combines the capabilities of several widely used packages for astronomical data processing such as IRAF, SExtractor, and the GALFIT code used to perform two-dimensional decomposition of galaxy images into several photometric components (bulge+disk). DECA has the advantage that it can be applied to large samples of galaxies with different orientations with respect to the line of sight (including edge-on galaxies) and requires minimum human intervention. Examples of using the package to study a sample of simulated galaxy images and a sample of real objects are shown to demonstrate that DECA can be a reliable tool for the study of the structure of galaxies.     

Star formation and nuclear activity in close pairs of early-type galaxies

We extract from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey a sample of 347 systems involving early-type galaxies separated by less than 30 kpc, in projection, and 500 km s⁻¹ in radial velocity. These close pairs are likely progenitors of dry mergers. The (optical) spectra are used to determine how the interaction affects the star formation history and nuclear activity of the galaxies. The emission lines (or lack thereof) are used to classify the sample into AGN, star forming or quiescent. Increased AGN activity and reduced star formation in early-type pairs that already appear to be interacting indicate that the merging process changes the nature of nebular activity, a finding that is also supported by an increase in AGN luminosity with decreasing pair separation. Recent star formation is studied on the absorption-line spectra, both through the principal component analysis and via a comparison of the spectra with composite stellar population models. We find that the level of recent star formation in close pairs is raised relative to a control sample of early-type galaxies. This excess of residual star formation is found throughout the sample of close pairs and does not correlate with pair separation or with visual signs of interaction. Our findings are consistent with a scenario whereby the first stage of the encounter (involving the outer parts of the haloes) triggers residual star formation, followed by a more efficient inflow towards the centre – switching to an AGN phase – after which the systems are quiescent.     

Kinematics of Gas and Stars Along the Hubble Sequence

We present a comparison between the ionized gas and stellar kinematics for a sample of five early-to-intermediate disc galaxies. We measured the major axis V and σ radial profiles for both gas and stars, and the h ₃ and h ₄ radial profiles of the stars. We also derived from the R-band surface photometry of each galaxy the light contribution of their bulges and discs. In order to investigate the differences between the velocity fields of the sample galaxies we adopted the self-consistent dynamical model by Pignatelli and Galletta (1999), which takes into account the asymmetric drift effects, the projection effects along the line of sight and the non-Gaussian shape of the line profiles due to the presence of different components with distinct dynamical behaviour. We find for the stellar component a sizeable asymmetric drift effect in the inner regions of all the sample galaxies, as results from comparing their stellar rotation curves with the circular velocity predicted by the models. The galaxy sample is not wide enough to draw general conclusions. However, we have found a possible correlation between the presence of slowly rising gas rotation curves and the ratio of the bulge/disc half-luminosity radii, while there is no obvious correlation with the key parameter represented by the morphological classification, namely the bulge/disc luminosity ratio. Systems with a diffuse, dynamically hot component (bulge or lens) with a scale length comparable to that of the disc are characterized by slowly rising gas rotation curves. On the other hand, in systems with a small bulge the gas follows almost circular motions, regardless of the luminosity of the bulge itself. We noticed a similar behaviour also in the gas and stellar kinematics of the two early-type spiral galaxies modelled by Corsini et al.(1998). This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Kinematics and stellar disk modeling of lenticular galaxies

We present the results of spectroscopic observations of three S0-Sa galaxies: NGC 338, NGC 3245, and NGC 5440 at the SAO RAS 6-m BTA telescope. The radial distributions of the line-ofsight velocities and radial velocity dispersions of stars and ionized gas were obtained, and rotation curves of galaxies were computed. We construct the numerical dynamic N-body galaxy models with N ?? 10⁶ points. The models include three components: a ??live?? bulge, a collisionless disk, dynamically evolving to the marginally stable state, and a pseudo-isothermal dark halo. The estimates of radial velocities and velocity dispersions of stars obtained from observations are compared with model estimates, projected onto the line of sight. We show that the disks of NGC 5440 and the outer regions of NGC 338 are dynamically overheated. Taking into account the previously obtained observations, we conclude that the dynamic heating of the disk is present in a large number of early-type disk galaxies, and it seems to ensue from the external effects. The estimates of the disk mass and relative mass of the dark halo are given, as well as the disk mass-to-luminosity ratio for seven galaxies, observed at the BTA.     

The quasar epoch and the stellar ages of early-type galaxies

We investigate the hypothesis that quasars formed together with the stellar populations of early-type galaxies. This hypothesis – in conjunction with the stellar ages of early-type galaxies from population synthesis models, the relation of black hole mass to bulge velocity dispersion, and the velocity dispersion distribution of spheroids from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey – completely determines the cosmic accretion history of supermassive black holes and the redshift evolution of the characteristic luminosity. On the other hand, the precise shape of the luminosity function of quasars depends on the light curve of quasars and – in the optical, but not so much in X-rays – on the covering factor of the dust surrounding the active nucleus. We find a plausible set of assumptions for which the coeval formation of supermassive black holes and elliptical galaxies is in good agreement with the observed B -band and X-ray luminosity functions of quasars.     

Radial and 2D colour properties of E+A galaxies

We investigated the radial colour gradient and two-dimensional (2D) colour properties of 22 E+A galaxies with  5.5 < Hδ equivalent width(EW) < 8.5 Å  and 49 normal early-type galaxies as a control sample at a redshift of <0.2 in the Second Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We found that a substantial number of E+A galaxies exhibit positive slopes of radial colour gradient (bluer gradients toward the centre) which are seldom seen in normal early-type galaxies. We found irregular 'colour morphologies'– asymmetrical and clumpy patterns – at the centre of g − r and r − i 2D colour maps of E+A galaxies with positive slopes of colour gradient. Kolomogorov–Smirnov two-sample tests show that g − r and r − i colour gradient distributions of E+A galaxies differ from those of early-type galaxies with a more than 99.99 per cent significance level. We also found a tight correlation between radial colour gradients and colours, and between radial colour gradients and the 4000-Å break in the E+A sample; E+A galaxies which exhibit bluer colour or weaker D ₄₀₀₀ tend to have positive slopes of radial colour gradient. We compared the GISSEL model and E+A observational quantities,  Hδ EW, D ₄₀₀₀  and u − g colour, and found that almost all our E+A galaxies are situated along a single evolutionary track. Therefore, these results are interpreted as E+A galaxies evolving from  Hδ EW ∼ 8 Å  to  Hδ EW ∼ 5 Å  , with colour gradients changing from positive to negative, and with the irregular 2D colour map becoming smoother, during a time-scale of ∼300 Myr. Our results favour the hypothesis that E+A galaxies are post-starburst galaxies caused by merger/interaction, having undergone a centralized violent starburst.