Cygnus A: stars, dust and cones

We present new Hubble Space Telescope ( HST  ) continuum and spectral line images of the radio galaxy Cygnus A. The images show much complex structure in the central kpc². Continuum images show the central dust lane in detail, allowing detailed maps of E ( B  −  V ) to be constructed; the dust appears to follow a roughly Galactic extinction law. The emission-line components are resolved in the line images and investigated in detail. A clear 'opening cone' morphology is found, especially in the lines of Hα and [O  i ]. Blue condensations are seen in the south-eastern emission component and surrounding the central region. These are almost certainly due to star formation, which began <1 Gyr ago as deduced from the colour of the regions. More extended blue continuum is also seen and corresponds to the blue polarized component detected by other recent spectropolarimetric observations.     

The morphology,kinematics and metallicity of blue-core galaxies

We select 107 blue-core galaxies from the MaNGA survey, studying their morphology, kinematics as well as the gas-phase metallicity. Our results are as follows:(i) In our sample, 26% of blue-core galaxies have decoupled gas-star kinematics, indicating external gas accretion;15% have bar-like structure and 8% show post-merger features, such as tidal tails and irregular gas/star velocity field. All these processes/features, such as accreting external misaligned gas, interaction and bar, can trigger gas inflow. Thus the central star-forming activities lead to bluer colors in their centers(blue-core galaxies).(ii) By comparing with the SDSS DR7 star-forming galaxy sample, we find that the blue-core galaxies have higher central gas-phase metallicity than what is predicted by the local mass-metallicity relation. We explore the origin of the higher metallicity, finding that not only the blue-core galaxies, but also the flat-gradient and red-core galaxies all have higher metallicity. This can be explained by the combined effect of redshift and galaxy color.     

Environmental effects on satellite galaxies: the link between concentration, size and colour profile

Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 4 group catalogue of Yang et al., we investigate sizes, concentrations, colour gradients and surface brightness profiles of central and satellite galaxies. We compare central and satellite galaxies at fixed stellar mass, in order to disentangle environmental from stellar mass dependencies. Early- and late-type galaxies are defined according to concentration. We find that at fixed stellar mass, late-type satellite galaxies have smaller radii and larger concentrations than late-type central galaxies. No such differences are found for early-type galaxies. We have also constructed surface brightness and colour profiles for the central and satellite galaxies in our sample. We find that late-type satellite galaxies have a lower surface brightness and redder colours than late-type central galaxies. We show that all observed differences between satellite and central galaxies can be explained by a simple fading model, in which the star formation in the disc decreases over time-scales of 2–3 Gyr after a galaxy becomes a satellite. Processes that induce strong morphological changes (e.g. harassment) and processes that strip the galaxy of its entire interstellar medium need not to be invoked in order to explain the environmental dependencies we find.     

Stellar and HI Mass Functions Predicted by a Simple Preheating Galaxy Formation Model

According to the new preheating mechanism of galaxy formation suggested by Mo et al., we construct a simple model of formation of disk galaxies within the current paradigm of galaxy formation. It incorporates preheating, gas cooling, bulge formation and star for-mation. The predicted stellar and HI mass functions of galaxies are discussed and compared with the observations. It is found that our model can roughly match both the observed galaxy luminosity function and the observed HI-mass function.     

Imaging of the shell galaxies NGC 474 and 7600, and implications for their formation

We present photometric observations of two shell galaxies, NGC 474 and 7600. We examine the photometric colours and surface brightnesses of the shells and their host galaxies, and the isophotal parameters of each galaxy. In the case of NGC 474, we find that the shell formation is consistent with a merger origin, although it is possible that the close companion NGC 470 is contributing to the shell system via mass transfer. NGC 7600 exhibits shell geometry and colours which also favour a merger origin.     

The growth of supermassive black holes in pseudo-bulges, classical bulges and elliptical galaxies

Using results from structural analysis of a sample of nearly 1000 local galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we estimate how the mass in central black holes is distributed amongst elliptical galaxies, classical bulges and pseudo-bulges, and investigate the relation between their stellar masses and central stellar velocity dispersion σ. Assuming a single relation between elliptical galaxy/bulge mass, M _Bulge, and central black hole mass, M _BH, we find that  55⁺⁸₋₄  per cent of the mass in black holes in the local universe is in the centres of elliptical galaxies,  41⁺⁴₋₂  per cent in classical bulges and  4^+0.9_−0.4  per cent in pseudo-bulges. We find that ellipticals, classical bulges and pseudo-bulges follow different relations between their stellar masses and σ, and the most significant offset occurs for pseudo-bulges in barred galaxies. This structural dissimilarity leads to discrepant black hole masses if single   M _BH– M _Bulge  and   M _BH–σ  relations are used. Adopting relations from the literature, we find that the   M _BH–σ  relation yields an estimate of the total mass density in black holes that is roughly 55 per cent larger than if the   M _BH– M _Bulge  relation is used.     

Modelling gaseous and stellar kinematics in the disc galaxies NGC 772, 3898 and 7782

We present V -band surface photometry and major-axis kinematics of stars and ionized gas of three early-type spiral galaxies, namely NGC 772, 3898 and 7782. For each galaxy we present a self-consistent Jeans model for the stellar kinematics, adopting the light distribution of bulge and disc derived by means of a two-dimensional parametric photometric decomposition. This allows us to investigate the presence of non-circular gas motions, and derive the mass distribution of luminous and dark matter in these objects.
NGC 772 and 7782 have apparently normal kinematics with the ionized gas tracing the gravitational equilibrium circular speed. This is not true in the innermost region (| r |≲8 arcsec) of NGC 3898, where the ionized gas is rotating more slowly than the circular velocity predicted by dynamical modelling. This phenomenon is common in the bulge-dominated galaxies for which dynamical modelling enables us to make the direct comparison between the gas velocity and the circular speed, and it poses questions about the reliability of galaxy mass distributions derived by the direct decomposition of the observed ionized-gas rotation curve into the contributions of luminous and dark matter.     

Structural properties of pseudo-bulges, classical bulges and elliptical galaxies: a Sloan Digital Sky Survey perspective

We have performed 2D bulge/bar/disc decompositions using g , r and i -band images of a representative sample of nearly 1000 galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We show that the Petrosian concentration index is a better proxy for the bulge-to-total ratio than the global Sérsic index. We show that pseudo-bulges can be distinguished from classical bulges as outliers in the Kormendy relation. We provide the structural parameters and distributions of stellar masses of ellipticals, classical bulges, pseudo-bulges, discs and bars, and find that 32 per cent of the total stellar mass in massive galaxies in the local universe is contained in ellipticals, 36 per cent in discs, 25 per cent in classical bulges, 3 per cent in pseudo-bulges and 4 per cent in bars. Pseudo-bulges are currently undergoing intense star formation activity and populate the blue cloud of the colour–magnitude diagram. Most (though not all) classical bulges are quiescent and populate the red sequence of the diagram. Classical bulges follow a correlation between the bulge Sérsic index and bulge-to-total ratio, while pseudo-bulges do not. In addition, for a fixed bulge-to-total ratio, pseudo-bulges are less concentrated than classical bulges. Pseudo-bulges follow a mass–size relation similar to that followed by bars, and different from that followed by classical bulges. In the fundamental plane, pseudo-bulges occupy the same locus as discs. While these results point out different formation processes for classical and pseudo-bulges, we also find a significant overlap in their properties, indicating that the different processes might happen concomitantly. Finally, classical bulges and ellipticals follow offset mass–size relations, suggesting that high-mass bulges might not be simply high-mass ellipticals surrounded by discs.     

Pre-enriched, not primordial ellipticals

We follow the chemical evolution of a galaxy through star formation and its feedback into the interstellar medium (ISM), starting from primordial gas and allowing for gas to inflow into the region being modelled. We attempt to reproduce observed spectral line strengths for early-type galaxies in order to constrain their star formation histories (SFH). The efficiencies and times of star formation are varied, as are the amount and duration of inflow. We evaluate the chemical enrichment and the mass of stars made with time. Single stellar population (SSP) data are then used to predict line strengths for composite stellar populations. The results are compared with observed line strengths in 10 ellipticals, including some features which help to break the problem of age–metallicity degeneracy in old stellar populations. We find that the elliptical galaxies modelled require high metallicity SSPs (> 3 Z⊙) at later times. In addition, the strong lines observed cannot be produced by an initial starburst in primordial gas, even if a large amount of inflow is allowed for during the first few × 10⁸ yr. This is because some pre-enrichment is required for lines in the bulk of the stars to approach the observed line strengths in ellipticals. These strong lines are better modelled by a system with a delayed burst of star formation, following an early SFH which can be a burst or more steady star formation. Such a model is representative of star formation in normal ellipticals or spirals, respectively, followed by a starburst and gas inflow during a merger or strong interaction with a gas-rich galaxy. Alternatively, a single initial burst of normal stars with a Salpeter initial mass function could produce the observed strong lines if it followed some pre-enrichment process which did not form long-lived stars (e.g. population III stars).     

B, V, I photometry of 20 dwarf irregular galaxies within 10 Mpc

CCD photometry is presented for 20 dIrr galaxies situated in the nearby complexes CenA/M83, and CVnI as well as in the general field of the Local Volume. We present integrated magnitudes of the galaxies in   B , V , I   bands and also surface brightness profiles to a median isophote  μ _B ∼ 28  mag arcsec⁻². The popular Sersic parametrization of surface brightness profiles generally does a poor job of simultaneously fitting the inner cores and outer exponential surface brightness fall-offs observed in many of our targets. The observed sample is a part of a general project to image about 500 nearby  ( D < 10 Mpc)  dwarf galaxies in multiple bands.     

Submillimetre detection of the z=2.83 Lyman-break galaxy, Westphal–MM8, and implications for SCUBA2

We present confusion-limited submillimetre (submm) observations with the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope of the   z = 2.83  Lyman-break galaxy (LBG), Westphal–MM8, reaching an 850 μm sensitivity even greater than that achieved in the SCUBA map of the Hubble Deep Field region. The detection of MM8  ( S _850 μm= 1.98 ± 0.48 mJy)  , along with the literature submm detections of lensed LBGs, suggests that the LBG population may contribute significantly to the source counts of submm-selected galaxies in the 1–2 mJy regime. Additionally, submm-luminous LBGs are a viable progenitor population for the recently discovered evolved galaxies at   z ∼ 2–2.5  . These observations represent an important baseline for SCUBA2 observations which will regularly map large regions of the sky to this depth.     

Optical, infrared and radio observations of the Seyfert galaxy Markarian 315

We report on new optical, infrared and radio observations of the Seyfert galaxy Markarian 315. We confirm the detection at all wavelengths of a secondary peak of emission, which lies ≈ 2 arcsec east of the Seyfert nucleus. Moreover, we detect a chain-like structure which surrounds the active nucleus, with peculiar behaviour westward of the nucleus. We consider different interpretations for the origin of the secondary peak emission.