The barred spiral structure of galaxies

We have carried out a preliminary analysis of barred spirals using a gas-dynamical model. By means of the method of integral transform given in a previous paper [1], an analytical solution has been obtained which is in fair agreement with observations.     

A new model for barred spiral galaxies

Computer simulations are used to demonstrate that normal spiral galaxies with symmetrically warped arms can appear to have bar and bar-within-ring structures when viewed from appropriate position angles.     

BV photometry of five shell galaxies

Current views consider shell structures as bona fide signatures of a recent minor/major merging event though also weak interaction models (WIM) could produce long lasting shells on host galaxies possessing a stellar thick disc.We present a B V band photometric study of a sample of 5 shell galaxies belonging to the Malin & Carter (1983) compilation. The structural properties and colors of the galaxies, as well as the colors of their shells are examined in detail. We did not find signatures of the presence of double nuclei. NGC 7585 is the only E galaxy in the sample and has a moderately boxy structure. The other galaxies have either a discy structure or are mixed E/S0 type galaxies. NGC 474 is a true lenticular. NGC 6776 shows a diffuse asymmetric outer structure and a system of tails of the the same color of the galaxy body; but not clear shells. In general, the color of the shells in our sample is similar or slightly redder than that of the host galaxy, whose color, in turn, is typical of the early‐type morphological class. One of the outer shells of NGC 474 is significantly bluer than the body of the galaxy. Since NGC 474 appears to be interacting with NGC 470, the color of this one shell could be explained as result of a recent acquisition of material through tidal interaction. The WIM hypothesis could explain both the red and the blue shells of NGC 474, this latter acquired from the fly‐by of the nearby companion NGC 470, but the lack of the constancy of shell surface brightness as a ratio of the underlying galaxy brightness argues against WIM. We speculate about evidence, which also comes from different observations, that suggests a merging/accretion origin of the shells. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Dark haloes of spiral galaxies: ISO photometry

We exclude hydrogen-burning stars, of any mass above the hydrogen-burning limit and any metallicity, as significant contributors to the massive haloes deduced from rotation curves to dominate the outer parts of spiral galaxies. We present and analyse images of four nearly edge-on bulgeless spiral galaxies (UGC 711, NGC 2915, UGC 12426, UGC 1459) obtained with ISOCAM (The CAMera instrument on board the Infrared Space Observatory ) at 14.5 and 6.75 μm. Our sensitivity limit for detection of any diffuse infrared emission associated with the dark haloes in these galaxies is a few tens of μJy per 6 × 6 arcsec² pixel, with this limit currently set by remaining difficulties in modelling the non-linear behaviour of the detectors. All four galaxies show zero detected signal from extended non-disc emission, consistent with zero halo-like luminosity density distribution. The 95 per cent upper limit on any emission, for NGC 2915 in particular, allows us to exclude very low mass main-sequence stars ( M  > 0.08 M⊙) and young brown dwarfs (≲1 Gyr) as significant contributors to dark matter in galactic haloes. Combining our results with those of the Galactic microlensing surveys, which exclude objects with M  < 0.01 M⊙, excludes almost the entire possible mass range of compact baryonic objects from contributing to Galactic dark matter.     

DifferentialUBV photometry in the central regions of spiral galaxies

The differential color indices in the central bulk of spiral SA, SAB and SB galaxies were analyzed. A comparison of the data derived for the three families do not show any systematical difference among them, within the most probable error of the sample.     

Unusual properties of bar-within-ring galaxies and the projection effect model for barred spiral galaxies

Five anomalous properties of bar-within-ring galaxies, which comprise the majority of barred spiral galaxies, are reported. These properties appear to be in conflict with conventional ideas about galactic morphology, but are in keeping with the projection effect model for barred spiral galaxies.     

Properties of star formation in the spiral arms of barred galaxies

It is assumed that the two-fold disc-wide symmetry of spirals is caused by density waves, but also the potential of a bar component may have a significant influence on structural properties. The strength of the bar component appears to be anti-correlated with the degree of symmetry of star-forming regions in the spiral arms (Rozas et al., 1998). We present new results of R and Hα surface photometry of a sample of bright barred spirals. A photometric decompositon of the galaxy components is carried out in order to make a more accurate measurement of the strength of the bar and its interrelation to gas and stars in the disc. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Surface photometry and radial color gradients of nearby luminous early-type galaxies in SDSS Stripe 82

We make use of the images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82(Stripe 82) to present an analysis of r band surface brightness profiles and radial color gradients(g-r,u-r) in our sample of 111 nearby early-type galaxies(ETGs) .Thanks to the Stripe 82 images,each of which is co-added from about 50 single frames,we are able to pay special attention to the low-surface-brightness areas(LSB areas) of the galaxies.The LSB areas affect the Sérsic fittings and concentration indices by making both of the indic...     

The coalescence of invariant manifolds and the spiral structure of barred galaxies

In a previous paper (Voglis et al., Paper I), we demonstrated that, in a rotating galaxy with a strong bar, the unstable asymptotic manifolds of the short-period family of unstable periodic orbits around the Lagrangian points L ₁ or L ₂ create correlations among the apocentric positions of many chaotic orbits, thus supporting a spiral structure beyond the bar. In this paper, we present evidence that the unstable manifolds of all the families of unstable periodic orbits near and beyond corotation contribute to the same phenomenon. Our results refer to a N -body simulation, a number of drawbacks of which, as well as the reasons why these do not significantly affect the main results, are discussed. We explain the dynamical importance of the invariant manifolds as due to the fact that they produce a phenomenon of 'stickiness' slowing down the rate of chaotic escape in an otherwise non-compact region of the phase space. We find a stickiness time of the order of 100 dynamical periods, which is sufficient to support a long-living spiral structure. Manifolds of different families become important at different ranges of values of the Jacobi constant. The projections of the manifolds of all the different families in the configuration space produce a pattern due to the 'coalescence' of the invariant manifolds. This follows closely the maxima of the observed   m = 2  component near and beyond corotation. Thus, the manifolds support both the outer edge of the bar and the spiral arms.     

Circumnuclear regions in barred spiral galaxies – I. Near-infrared imaging

We present subarcsecond-resolution, ground-based, near-infrared images of the central regions of a sample of 12 barred galaxies with circumnuclear star formation activity, which is organized in ring-like regions typically 1 kpc in diameter. We also present Hubble Space Telescope near-infrared images of 10 of our sample galaxies, and compare them with our ground-based data. Although our sample galaxies were selected for the presence of circumnuclear star formation activity, our broad-band near-infrared images are heterogeneous, showing a substantial amount of small-scale structure in some galaxies, and practically none in others. We argue that, where it exists, this structure is caused by young stars, which also cause the characteristic bumps or changes in slope in the radial profiles of ellipticity, major axis position angle, surface brightness and colour at the radius of the circumnuclear ring in most of our sample galaxies. In seven out of 10 HST images, star formation in the nuclear ring is clearly visible as a large number of small emitting regions, organized into spiral arm fragments, which are accompanied by dust lanes. Near-infrared colour index maps show much more clearly the location of dust lanes and, in certain cases, regions of star formation than single broad-band images. Circumnuclear spiral structure thus outlined appears to be common in barred spiral galaxies with circumnuclear star formation.     

The evolution of barred spiral galaxies in the Hubble Deep Fields North and South

The frequency of barred spiral galaxies as a function of redshift contains important information on the gravitational influence of stellar discs in their dark matter haloes and may also distinguish between contemporary theories for the origin of galactic bulges. In this paper we present a new quantitative method for determining the strength of barred spiral structure, and verify its robustness to redshift-dependent effects. By combining galaxy samples from the Hubble Deep Field North with newly available data from the Hubble Deep Field South, we are able to define a statistical sample of 46 low-inclination spiral systems with I _814 W<23.2 mag. Analysing the proportion of barred spiral galaxies seen as a function of redshift, we find a significant decline in the fraction of barred spirals with redshift. The redshift distribution of 22 barred and 24 non-barred spirals with suitable inclinations is inconsistent with their being drawn from the same distribution at the 99 per cent confidence level. The physical significance of this effect remains unclear, but several possibilities include dynamically hotter (or increasingly dark-matter-dominated) high-redshift discs, or an enhanced efficiency in bar destruction at high redshifts. By investigating the formation of the 'orthogonal' axis of Hubble's classification tuning fork, our result complements studies of evolution in the early–late sequence, and pushes to later epochs the redshift at which the Hubble classification sequence is observed to be in place.     

Annular structures in barred galaxies

The existence of ring-like structures is proposed in barred spirals which are accreting mass. The cases of some well-known galaxies are discussed and an interpretation is given.Visiting astronomer at CTIO, operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.