面向类旋涡星系盘有效厚度的获取及图像处理方法

面向类(face-on)旋涡星系盘的有效厚度或标高不能通过表面亮度测光的方式测量.为了获得面向类旋涡星系盘的厚度参数,将基于三维星系盘引力势Poisson方程在等角对数螺旋型物质密度扰动情形下的解,运用一种解析法对面向类旋涡星系盘的标高进行测算.为了去除星系核球的光污染而获得旋臂最内点位置(r0)的重要参数,使用了在星系观测图像中扣除双成份(盘+核球)测光模型的图像处理方法.通过对旋涡星系相关结构参数的拟合测量,各得到了一个普通旋涡星系(S)与棒旋星系(SB)的有效厚度与相关参数,并给出了它们的球盘比(rb/rd)和星系盘的标长与厚度之比(rd/H).采用这种在观测图像中扣除双成份测光模型的方法,将更容易看清旋臂结构的最内端,因而这里获得的禁区半径r0的数值往往比从原星系图像上直接测量的数值要小,获得的星系盘有效厚度将更薄.     

Isolated Main Galaxy Pairs from the SDSS Data Release 4

From the Main galaxy data of the SDSS Data Release 4 (SDSS4), we have identified close galaxy pairs at neighbourhood radius R = 100 kpc by three-dimensional cluster analysis. Using the criterion that an "isolated galaxy pair" must be separated from its "nearest neighbor" by more than 500 kpc, we constructed an isolated galaxy pair sample of 1158 pairs. We also constructed a random pair sample by randomly selecting 1158 galaxy pairs from the Main galaxy sample, which has the same redshift distribution as the isolated galaxy pair sample, and in which the two components of any pair have the same redshifts. Comparative studies of luminosity and size between the members of the galaxy pairs are performed. We find and further confirm there is no tendency for paired galaxies to have similar luminosities or sizes. From the isolated pair sample we also selected a subsample with the magnitude limit of the primary raised by 2 magnitudes, so as to include pairs in which the secondary is 2 magnitudes fainter than the primary. This subsample contains 82 pairs. A random pair sample is similarly constructed.     

Determination of the Thickness of Non-Edge-on Disk Galaxies

We propose a method to determine the thickness of non-edge-on disk galaxies from their observed structure of spiral arms, based on the solution of the truly three-dimensional Poisson‘s equation for a logarithmic disturbance of density and under the condition where the self-consistency of the density wave theory is no longer valid. From their measured number of arms, pitch angle and location of the innermost point of the spiral arms, we derive and present the thicknesses of 34 spiral galaxies.     

The Color-Magnitude Relations of Late-type Spiral Galaxies and Their Disks

The 395 late-type spiral galaxies brighter than 15^m in r-band are selected from the Data Release 2 of Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the colormagnitude relations of these galaxies and their disks are investigated. It is found that the colors g − r, r − z and g − z of these galaxies and their disks are strongly correlated with the r-band absolute magnitudes, i.e., the more luminous galaxies (or disks) have the redder colors than the less luminous galaxies (or disks). And the correlation of galaxies is stronger than that of their disks.     

Vertical Scale Parameter Estimates for 48 Non-edge-on Spiral Galaxies

In the first paper of this series, we directly studied the mathematical forms, symmetry of spiral structure, and the projection of galactic discs on the images, and measured the pitch angles of the spiral arms and inclination angles of the galactic discs for 60 spiral galaxies. In this second paper, we estimate the vertical scale parameters of 48 non-edge-on spiral galaxies based on the method proposed by Peng et al. and on the results given in Paper Ⅰ. As we know, for edge-on disc galaxies we can obtain the vertical scale parameter from the photometry, once a mathematical form is specified for the vertical light distribution. For non-edgeon galaxies, some other methods have to be used. The statistical result was that the vertical scale parameter is comparable for edge-on and non-edge-on galaxies, although it is obtained from two very different methods.     

晚型旋涡星系盘的颜色梯度与结构参数的相关关系

从Sloan数字巡天第2批释放的数据(SDSS DR2)中选择了395个在r波段亮于15等的面向晚型旋涡星系作为样本,研究了盘的颜色梯度与结构参数的关系.结果表明:盘的颜色梯度与盘的绝对星等(质量)无关;盘的颜色梯度与盘的尺度有关,越大的盘颜色梯度越陡;盘的颜色梯度与盘的颜色有关,越蓝的盘颜色梯度越陡;盘的颜色梯度与盘的表面亮度有关,越亮的盘颜色梯度越陡,并简单讨论了盘的颜色梯度与各结构参数的相关关系对晚型旋涡星系盘恒星形成历史的约束.     

Correlations Between Color Gradients and Structural Parameters of Disks in Late-type Spiral Galaxies

From the second group of the data released by the Sloan numerical patrol survey (SDSS DR2), 395 face-on late-type spiral galaxies brighter than 15-th magnitude in the waveband r are selected as the sample. The relations between the color gradients and structural parameters of disks are studied. The results indicate the following: (1) The color gradient is independent of the absolute magnitude (mass) of the disk. (2) The color gradient of disk is concerned with the size of disk. The larger the disk, the steeper the color gradient. (3) The color gradient of disk is concerned with the color of disk. The bluer the disk color, the steeper the gradient. (4) The color gradient of disk is related with the surface brightness of disk. The brighter the disk, the steeper the color gradient. Moreover, the historical constraint formed by the relations between the color gradients of disks and various structural parameters is briefly discussed.     

Color-size Relations of Disk Galaxies with Equivalent Masses

The local face-on disk galaxies are selected as galaxy sample from the main galaxy sample of the Seventh Data Release of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS DR7). The correlations between the colors and sizes of disk galaxies with equivalent total stellar masses are statistically investigated and their realities are tested. It is found that for the disk galaxies with equivalent masses, the correlation between u-r color and size is very weak. However, there are anticorrelations between g-r, r-i, r-z colors and sizes, i.e., the larger are the sizes of galaxies, the bluer are their colors. This result means that the mass distribution of disk galaxies has a significant influence on their star formation history. The galaxies with more extended mass distributions evolve more slowly.     

The Persistence of Warps in Spiral Galaxies with Massive Haloes

We study the persistence of warps in galactic discs in the presence of massive haloes. A disc is approximated by a set of massive rings, while a halo is represented by a conventional n -body simulation. We confirm the conclusion of Nelson &38; Tremaine that a halo responds strongly to an embedded precessing disc. This response invalidates the approximations made in the derivation of classical 'modified tilt' modes. We show that the response of the halo causes the line of nodes of a disc that starts from a modified tilt mode to wind up within a few dynamical times. We explain this finding in terms of the probable spectrum of true normal modes of a combined disc–halo system. The key physical point is that in each radial range the halo rapidly aligns with the disc, so calculations based on the assumption that, in the presence of a warped disc, the halo retains a regular spheroidal structure are based on a fatally flawed assumption.     

Scale Heights of Non-Edge-on Spiral Galaxies

We present a method of calculating the scale height of non-edge-on spiral galaxies,together with a formula for errors.The method is based on solving Poisson's equation for a logarithmic disturbance of matter density in spiral galaxies.We show that the spiral arms can not extend to inside the“forbidden radius”γ_0,due to the effect of the finite thickness of the disk.The method is tested by re-calculating the scale heights of 71 northern spiral galaxies previously calculated by Ma,Peng & Gu. Our results differ from theirs by less than 9%.We also present the scale heights of a further 23 non-edge-on spiral galaxies.     

The Inclination, Pitch Angle and Forbidden Radius of Spiral Arms of PGC 35105

We have studied some properties including surface brightness in the u, g, r, i, and z bands of the nearly face-on galaxy PGC 35105. By subtracting a model surface brightness distribution from the observed image we obtain the residual image that shows only the spiral arms freed from the contamination by the bulge. From this we measured the the inclination, pitch angle, and forbidden radius (identified with the innermost point of the arm) for each of the two arms; and that for each of the five observing bands. We found these three parameters are largely independent of the observing band.     

盘状星系的颜色星等关系

在Sloan数字巡天计划第二批释放的数据中选择了15257个面向的盘状星系,统计研究它们的颜色星等关系．结果表明3个颜色g-r、r-i、r-z均与r波段的绝对星等有紧密的相关关系,即:越亮的星系,颜色越红,而且色指数弥散越小．并且简单讨论了观测到的颜色星等关系对盘状星系的恒星形成历史的约束．     

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．     

Relation between Starlight and Nebular Emission Lines of Star-Forming Galaxies

We present an exercise that intends to establish a relationship between the strength of nebular emission lines and optical stellar features in the spectrum of a galaxy. After accurately subtracting the stellar continuum and the underlying stellar absorption, we made reliable measurements of the emission lines of all the galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 2 (SDSS DR2). More than 4000 star-forming galaxies with high S/N ratio of both the stellar spectrum and the emission lines are selected. These galaxy spectra are fitted with the 10 PCs of Yip et al., after all the emission line regions have been filtered out. We find that the flux of hydrogen Balmer emission lines, Hα and Hβ can be well recovered from the PCs, while the metal lines are not well reproduced. The fluxes of Hα and Hβ measured from the PC-reconstructed spectra and from the observed spectra agree well with an rms scatter of only - 0.1 dex. This result suggests that, with moderate spectral resolution and S/N ratio, the optical stellar spectrum of a galaxy can serve as an indicator of star formation rate.     

A Method of Obtaining the Pitch Angle of Spiral Arms and the Inclination of Galactic Discs

RESEARCH PAPERS 1 INTRODUCTIONA spiraI gaIaxy inherently consists of a halo, a bulge and a thin disc with spiral structurewhich emerges from the central region or the end of a bright bar. Optical images of spirals, whichare projections on the celestial sphere, are dominated by the light from the stars, as modifiedby the extinction and reddening of dust. AIthough Lord Rosse first discovered that M51 hastwo spiral arms in 1845, the form of the spiral structure had not been investigat…     

Stellar Populations in Bulges of Spiral Galaxies

We present a few results of a work in progress tackling the radial spectroscopic properties of bulges of spiral galaxies. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Morphology and Structure of High-redshift Massive Galaxies in the CANDELS Fields

Using the multi-band photometric data of all five CANDELS (Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey) fields and the near-infrared (F125W and F160W) high-resolution images of HST WFC3 (Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3), a quantitative study of morphology and structure of mass-selected galaxies is presented. The sample includes 8002 galaxies with a redshift 1 < z < 3 and stellar mass M_*> 10¹⁰M_⊙. Based on the Convolutional Neural Network (ConvNet) criteria, we classify the sample galaxies into SPHeroids (SPH), Early-Type Disks (ETD), Late-Type Disks (LTD), and IRRegulars (IRR) in different redshift bins. The findings indicate that the galaxy morphology and structure evolve with redshift up to z ～ 3, from irregular galaxies in the high-redshift universe to the formation of the Hubble sequence dominated by disks and spheroids. For the same redshift interval, the median values of effective radii (r_e) of different morphological types are in a descending order: IRR, LTD, ETD, and SPH. But for the Sérsic index (n), the order is reversed (SPH, ETD, LTD, and IRR). In the meantime, the evolution of galaxy size (r_e) with the redshift is explored for the galaxies of different morphological types, and it is confirmed that their size will enlarge with time. However, such a phenomenon is not found in the relations between the redshift (1 < z < 3) and the mean axis ratio (b/a), as well as the Sérsic index (n).     

旋涡星系颜色梯度的研究进展

旋涡星系的颜色梯度反映了其星族构成沿径向的分布,包含了星系恒星形成历史的信息.因此,对旋涡星系颜色梯度的研究有助于理解星系的形成和演化过程.大部分旋涡星系存在负的颜色梯度,其主要原因是旋涡星系存在星族梯度.颜色梯度与星系的面亮度之间存在内禀的相关,表明质量面密度在星系的形成和演化过程中具有重要作用.