The stellar structure of irregular galaxies. Face-on galaxies

Stellar photometry of nearby irregular galaxies of the Local Group is used to identify and study the young and old stellar populations of these galaxies. An analysis of the spatial distributions of stars of different ages in face-on galaxies shows that the young stellar populations in irregular galaxies are concentrated toward the center, and form local inhomogeneities in star-forming regions, while the old stellar populations—red giants—form extended structures around the irregular galaxies. The sizes of these structures exceed the visible sizes of the galaxies at the 25^m/arcsec² isophote by a factor of two to three. The surface density of the red giants decreases exponentially from the center toward the edge, similar to the disk components in spiral galaxies.     

Multicolor CCD photometry of six lenticular and spiral galaxies. Stellar population of the galaxies

The results of multicolor surface photometry of the S0 galaxies NGC 524, NGC 1138, and NGC 7280 and the spiral galaxies NGC 532, NGC 783, and NGC 1589 are analyzed. UBVRI observations were acquired with the 1.5-m telescope of the Maidanak Observatory (Uzbekistan), while JHK data were taken from the 2MASS catalog. The brightness and color distributions in the galaxies are analyzed. Extinction in dust lanes in three spiral galaxies is estimated. The contributions of the radiation of the spherical and disk components in different photometric bands are estimated. Two-color diagrams are used to estimate the composition of the stellar populations in various galaxy components. The variations of the color characteristics in the S0 galaxies is due mostly to radial metallicity gradients.     

Polygonal structure of spiral galaxies

We have carried out numerical simulations of hydrodynamical processes occurring in the disks of spiral galaxies. The initial state of the disk is an equilibrium stellar-gaseous configuration. The spherical component is described by a standard analytical model for the gravitational potential. The behavior of the modeled disk in the presence of an external perturbation is analyzed. The results of numerical simulations of stellar-gaseous galactic disks aimed at studying the formation of polygonal structures in spiral galaxies are presented. The possible influence of spur-like formations on the appearance of polygonal structure is studied.     

Analysis of the structure of disk galaxies in the NGC 2300 group

Data from the 6-m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory obtained using the SCORPIO instrument in imaging mode are used to study member galaxies of the NGC 2300 group. Surface photometry has been carried out for the five largest galaxies in the group, whose isophotal parameters and the parameters of their large-scale structural components (disks and bulges) have been determined. The morphological type of the central galaxy in the group has been refined, and shown to be elliptical. Studies of structural features in non-central disk galaxies have revealed an enhanced percent of bars: bars were found in all disk galaxies of this group, with all of these being compact structures. The similarity of the structural features of the disks of the group galaxies suggests that these disksmay be being restructured in the process of the current merger of the two X-ray subgroups comprising NGC 2300: the group NGC 2300 itself and the group NGC 2276.     

The structure of the stellar disks of southern S0 galaxies in sparse environments

Surface photometry data are presented for 12 southern lenticular galaxies located in regions of low density. Digital images in the gri bands were obtained on the LCOGT network of meter-class telescopes. Structural parameters of the global stellar disks of the galaxies are calculated—the exponential scale and relative thickness. The presence of substructure in the disks is noted; in particular, more than half the studied galaxies possess ring structures, sometimes more than one. The color maps presented indicate complex evolution of the substructure of the disks of lenticular galaxies: they can be classified as blue (ongoing star formation) or red (concentration of dust). The rings do not always lie in the main plane of the disk; there are cases of clearly inclined, or even polar, compact rings.     

Early-type disk galaxies: Structure and kinematics

Spectroscopic observations of three lenticular (S0) galaxies (NGC 1167, NGC 4150, and NGC 6340) and one SBa galaxy (NGC 2273) have been taken with the 6-m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences aimed to study the structure and kinematic properties of early-type disk galaxies. The radial profiles of the stellar radial velocities and the velocity dispersion are measured. N-body simulations are used to construct dynamical models of galaxies containing a stellar disk, bulge, and halo. The masses of individual components are estimated formaximum-mass disk models. A comparison of models with estimated rotational velocities and the stellar velocity dispersion suggests that the stellar disks in lenticular galaxies are “overheated”; i.e., there is a significant excess velocity dispersion over the minimum level required to maintain the stability of the disk. This supports the hypothesis that the stellar disks of S0 galaxies were subject to strong gravitational perturbations. The relative thickness of the stellar disks in the S0 galaxies considered substantially exceed the typical disk thickness of spiral galaxies.     

Stellar subsystems of the galaxy NGC 2366

Hubble Space Telescope archive data are used to perform photometry of stars in seven fields at the center and periphery of the galaxy NGC 2366. The variation of the number density of stars of various ages with galactocentric radius and along the minor axis of the galaxy are determined. The boundaries of the thin and thick disks of the galaxy are found. The inferred sizes of the subsystems of NGC 2366 (Z _thin = 4 kpc and Z _thick = 8 kpc for the thin and thick disks, respectively) are more typical for spiral galaxies. Evidence for a stellar halo is found at the periphery of NGC 2366 beyond the thick disk of the galaxy.     

Emission lines of the red-dwarf flare star EV Lac: Stellar flares

We present equivalent widths and profiles for H_α H_β, H_γ and He I λ4471 Å emission lines obtained in observations of the flares of EV Lac made at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in 1994 and 1995. Our semi-empirical modeling of the flares gives insight into the structure of the emitting regions, including a temperature plateau, and also into the physical parameters, size, and location of the star’s relatively quiescent chromosphere.     

Nature of Purely Stellar Rings in Lenticular Galaxies

Astronomy Reports - The origin of several rings in lenticular galaxies with no signs of ongoing or recent star formation (without emission lines and a signal in the ultraviolet spectral range) is...     

Multicolor CCD photometry of six lenticular and spiral galaxies. Structure of the galaxies

The results of multicolor surface photometry of the S0 galaxies NGC 524, NGC 1138, and NGC 7280 and the spiral galaxies NGC 532, NGC 783, and NGC 1589 are reported. U BV RI observations were acquired with the 1.5-m telescope of the Maidanak Observatory (Uzbekistan), while JHK data were taken from the 2MASS catalog. The overall structure of the galaxies is analyzed and the galaxy images decomposed into bulge and disk components. The parameters of the galaxy components—rings, bars, spiral arms, and dust lanes—are determined. The bulge/disk decompositions based on averaged one-dimensional photometric profiles yield incorrect parameters for the bulges of the S0-Sa galaxies with bars and/or rings, whose inner regions are dominated by the radiation of the bulge.     

Narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies. Relationship between their frequency of occurrence and the large-scale structure of the universe

A previously published method is applied to the SDSS DR 7 data in order to determine the spatial densities of narrow-line and broad-line Seyfert galaxies (NLSs and BLSs) as functions of the density of galaxies in a complete, uniform sample that traces the large-scale structure of the Universe. These relationships are linear and the NLS/BLS ratio is constant, suggesting that NLSs and BLSs comprise a fixed fraction of all galaxies, which does not depend on the local galaxy density. Results obtained using the applied technique support the presence of a higher fraction of red galaxies in regions with higher local galaxy densities.     

Stellar fluxes in numerical dynamical models of open clusters

Fluxes of stars in models of open clusters that are nonstationary in the regular field of the cluster are analyzed. An equilibrium distribution function describes the state of these models from the beginning of their dynamical evolution. Violent relaxation in the open-cluster models proceeds under equilibrium conditions in phase space and does not result in virial equilibrium. The cluster relaxation times in the one-dimensional spaces of a number of stellar-motion parameters are estimated. The stellar fluxes are anisotropic in some two-dimensional parameter spaces. Such open-cluster models exhibit a number of manifestations of self-organization (an energy flux toward the center of the cluster and a transfer of energy from large-scale to small-scale motions, periodic decreases in the entropies of the cluster models with a period equal to that of oscillations of the regular field of the cluster, etc.). It is concluded that violent relaxation represents one form of self-organization in such systems.     

Some physical properties of UV galaxies

Observational data on galaxies displaying ultraviolet excesses in their spectra included in a survey compiled at the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory are considered and discussed. The characteristic physical properties of active galaxies with UV excesses are considered, as well as the unusual morphologies in their central regions. In spite of numerous studies of these galaxies, their physical nature remains incompletely understood. The results of the analysis of the problems associated with the peculiarities of UV galaxies are presented.     

Dark energy in flows of galaxies

It has traditionally been taken for granted that Hubble’s law is the key relation in cosmology, while it is surprisingly mysterious on the local scales of 1–30 Mpc where it was originally discovered. The progress in observational cosmology and, in particular, the discovery of dark energy have changed the views, and now we see that Hubble’s law works hardly at truly cosmological distances, but it rules very well on local scales. Recent observations with the HST, in combination with a theory model of the local expansion flows, give a clear evidence to the presence of dark energy in the local universe. It is dark energy that dominates the dynamics of the local flows and introduces to them the approximately linear velocity-distance relation with nearly universal expansion time-rate.     

Dark energy in the three-body problem: Wide triple galaxies

The structure and evolution of triple galaxy systems in the presence of the cosmic dark-energy background is studied in the framework of the three-body problem. The dynamics of wide triple systems are determinedmainly by the competition between the mutual gravitational forces between the three bodies and the anti-gravity created by the dark-energy background. This problem can be solved via numerical integration of the equations of motion with initial conditions that admit various types of evolutionary behavior of the system. Such dynamical models show that the anti-gravity created by dark energy makes a triple system less tightly bound, thereby facilitating its decay, with a subsequent transition to motion of the bodies away from each other in an accelerating regime with a linear Hubble-law dependence of the velocity on distance. The coefficient of proportionality between the velocity and distance in this asymptotic relation corresponds to the universal value H_Λ = 61 km s^?1 Mpc^?1, which depends only on the dark-energy density. The similarity of this relation to the large-scale recession of galaxies indicates that double and triple galaxies represent elementary dynamical cells realizing the overall behavior of a system dominated by dark energy on their own scale, independent of their masses and dimensions.     

Photometric properties of bars in galaxies

We have used surface photometry data for 100 barred galaxies to determine the UBVRIJHK surface brightnesses and color indices for the bars. Two peaks are observed in the distribution of the average bar B brightnesses: at 21.0^m/arcsec² and 22.2^m/arcsec², characteristic of late-and early-type galaxies, respectively. The average surface-brightness difference between the bar and the galaxy (within the 25.0^m/arcsec² isophote) increases from 1.1^m/arcsec² for SB0 galaxies to 2.3^m/arcsec² for SBc-IBm galaxies. In (U-B)₀-(B-V)₀, (B-V ₀-(V-R ₀, and (B-V)₀-(V-I)₀ two-color diagrams, for all morphological types, the bars are shifted leftward from normal color sequence for galaxies. This deviation is more pronounced for the outer than for the inner regions of the bars. Using evolutionary models, we show that this deviation is due to the scarcity of intermediate-age [(1–9)×10⁹ yrs] stars in bars. Possible origins for this anomalous composition of the stellar population are discussed.     

Morphological classifitation of irregular geologic bodies

Each geologic body has its unique convex shell, the use of which provides the most natural means of determining the complexity index (outline modulus µ_v) for that body, when the “concavity” index ν is sufficiently small.--IGR Staff     

Structure of the galaxies of the NGC 80 group: Two-tiered disks

Two-color photometric data obtained on the 6-m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory are used to analyze the structure of 13 large disk galaxies in the NGC 80 group. Nine of the 13 studied galaxies are classified as lenticular galaxies. The stellar populations in the galaxies are very diverse, from old stars with ages of T > 10 billion years (IC 1541) to relatively young stars with ages of T ∼ 1–3 billion years (IC 1548, NGC 85); in one case, star formation is ongoing (UCM 0018+2216). In most of the studied galaxies, more precisely in all of them brighter than M B ∼ −18, two-tiered stellar disks are detected, whose radial surface-brightness profiles can be described by two exponential segments with different characteristic scales—shorter near the center and longer at the periphery. All of the dwarf S0 galaxies with single-tiered disks are close companions to larger galaxies. Except for this fact, no dependence of the properties of S0 galaxies on distance from the center of the group is found. Morphological signs of a “minor merger” are found in the lenticular galaxy NGC 85. Based on these last two results, it is concluded that the most probable mechanism for their transformation of spiral into lenticular galaxies in groups is gravitational (minor mergers and tidal interactions).     

A catalog of galaxies in and around the cluster A1367. Spectral studies of several galaxies

We present a catalog of galaxies in and around the cluster A1367, together with the results of a spectroscopic study of eight faint galaxies projected onto the central part of the cluster. The observations were carried out with the Boller and Chivens spectrograph of the 2m telescope of the Guillermo Haro Observatory (Cananea, Mexico). Redshifts of eight galaxies were derived from both emission and absorption lines; the redshift for one of these, derived from Hα, SII, OIII, and Hβ emission lines, is z = 0.015. The spectrum of this galaxy displays no absorption lines at z = 0.026, testifying that it is located between the observer and A1367.     

Dark energy in the two-body problem: The local group of galaxies

The two-body problem of classical mechanics can be extended in a natural way by introducing a universal dark-energy background, which acts as a third dynamical factor. For real systems of galaxies, the corresponding additional acceleration is described by general relativity in the Newtonian limit, in which deviations from the Minkowski metric are very small. It is shown that this acceleration has the same form in different inertial and non-inertial reference frames. The invariance of the acceleration produced by dark energy reflects the fact that, according to its mechanical properties, dark energy is a vacuum that is comoving with any motion. In this generalized formulation, as in the classical case, the two-body problem with a dark-energy background reduces to the motion of a single body in a central field. Two problems of this kind are considered for the Local Group of galaxies. The first, “internal,” problem concerns the binary system formed by the main bodies of the Local Group: our galaxy and M31. The subject of the second, “external,” problem is the binary system formed by the Local Group as a whole and its closest neighbor, the Virgo Cluster. In the internal problem, the effect of the dark energy is that the binary system is not bound if its mass does not exceed 3 × 10¹² M_⊙, which is allowed by the observational data. The external problem demonstrates the possibility of an evolutionary scenario in which a group could initially be located in the volume of a cluster, but then leave it and, moving away with an acceleration created by dark energy, arrive at the observed distance from the cluster.