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.     

The role of close passages of galaxies and the asymmetry of their dark haloes in the formation of their spiral patterns

The influence of close passages of galaxies on the shapes of disk galaxies and the distribution of stars in them is studied for several types of interactions in the framework of the restricted N-body problem. Depending on the conditions adopted, either two spiral density waves or ring structures are formed in the stellar disk of the galaxy. These structures can generate star formation fronts with the corresponding shape, as are observed in disk galaxies. Our calculations can also be applied to study the influence of the passage of a nearby star on a protoplanetary disk. The formation of ring structures there could specify the type of planet formation in the outer regions of the planetary system and the distribution of semimajor axes for the planetary orbits. We use the same model to study the generation and evolution of spiral density waves in the stellar disks of galaxies as a result of the recently found asymmetry of the gravitational potential in the massive dark haloes in disk galaxies. The dipole component of the gravitational field of the halo can continuously permanently generate the spiral structure in disk galaxies.     

The thickness of stellar disks in early-type galaxies

We suggest and justify a new photometric method enabling the derivation of the relative thickness of a galactic disk from the two-dimensional surface-brightness distribution of the galaxy in the plane of the sky. The method is applied to images of 45 early-type (S0-Sb) galaxies with known radial exponential or piece-wise-exponential (with a flatter outer profile) surface-brightness distributions. The data were taken from the open SDSS archive. The statistics of the estimated relative thicknesses of the stellar disks of early-type galaxies show the following features. The disks of lenticular and spiral early-type galaxies have similar thickness. The presence of a bar results in only a slight increase of the thickness. However, there is a substantial difference between the thicknesses of disks with a single exponential brightness profile and exponential disks that represent the inner segments of Type III profiles (after Erwin); i.e., they have an outer exponential disk with a larger characteristic scale. The disks are significantly thicker in the former than in the latter case. This may provide evidence that a single exponential scale in a disk surface-brightness distribution forms due to viscosity effects acting over the entire period of star-formation evolution in the disk.     

Numerical modeling of transient structures in the disks of spiral galaxies

Nonstationary gas-dynamical processes occuring in the disks of spiral galaxies due to the external gravitational field have been studied using numerical simulations. A series of hydrodynamical discontinuities, including strong shock fronts and contact discontinuities, arises as a result of the nonlinear, supersonic interaction between emerging spiral formations and the flow of matter in the two-armed global morphology.     

Stellar structure of irregular galaxies: Edge-on galaxies

Stellar photometry obtained using the Hubble Space Telescope is used to study the distributions of the number densities of stars of various ages in 12 irregular and dwarf spiral galaxies viewed edge-on. Two subsystems can be distinguished in all the galaxies: a thin disk comprised of young stars and a thick disk containing a large fraction of old stars (primarily red giants) in the system. Variations of the stellar number density in the thin and thick disks in the Z direction perpendicular to the plane of the galaxy follow an exponential law. The size of the thin disk corresponds to the visible size of the galaxy at the μ = 25 mag/arcsec² isophote, while the thick disk is a factor of two to three larger. In addition to a thick disk, the massive irregular galaxy M82 also has a more extended stellar halo that is flattened at the galactic poles. The results of our previous study of 12 face-on galaxies are used together with the new results presented here to construct an empirical model for the stellar structure of irregular galaxies. Original Russian Text ? N.A. Tikhonov, 2006, published in Astronomicheskiĭ Zhurnal, 2006, Vol. 83, No. 7, pp. 579–588.     

Numerical simulations of a multi-arm gaseous configuration in a global two-arm spiral gravitational field

The results of numerical simulations of supersonic, gas-dynamical processes occurring in the disks of spiral galaxies are presented. Qualitative and quantitative pictures of morphological features in the structure formed by a two-armed gravitational potential are given. A gas-dynamical interpretation of a quasi-stationary configuration containing two shock fronts separated by a contact discontinuity is discussed. This type of supersonic configuration with three jumps can form and produce a spiral pattern with six arms displaying global two-fold symmetry. An economical method has been used to calculate the complex, non-stationary, supersonic gas flows using a fully conservative difference scheme to solve the appreciably divergent gas-dynamical equations in the Euler variables in an axially symmetric approximation.     

Magnetic-field structure in the accretion disks of semi-detached binary systems

The results of three-dimensional MHD numerical simulations are used to investigate the characteristic properties of the magnetic-field structures in the accretion disks of semi-detached binary systems. It is assumed that the intrinsic magnetic field of the accretor star is dipolar. Turbulent diffusion of the magnetic field in the disk is taken into account. The SS Cyg system is considered as an example. The results of the numerical simulations show the intense generation of a predominantly toroidal magnetic field in the accretion disk. Magnetic zones with well defined structures for the toroidal magnetic field form in the disk, which are separated by current sheets in which there ismagnetic reconnection and current dissipation. Possible observational manifestations of such structures are discussed. It is shown that the interaction of a spiral precessional wave with the accretor’s magnetosphere could lead to quasi-periodic oscillations of the accretion rate.     

Atomic hydrogen deficiency in galaxies of the virgo and coma clusters: A new estimation method

We propose a new method for estimating the HI deficiency in galaxies. The method is based on a semi-empirical relationship between the total mass of HI and specific angular momentum of isolated galaxies. The atomic-hydrogen deficiency is estimated for nearby spiral galaxies and for spiral galaxies in the Virgo and Coma clusters. The mean HI deficiencies determined for these samples using our method are similar to those obtained with conventional methods, although there are considerable differences in some cases. The HI deficiency in nearby galaxies does not depend on their degree of isolation, and there is no systematic discrepancy between their HI and “normal” masses. Significant HI deficiencies are observed in the Virgo and Coma clusters, out to distances of 1.5 and 3–4 Mpc from the cluster centers, respectively. At such distances, the ram pressure is too small to sweep a considerable amount of gas from the galactic disks. Either these galaxies have passed through the dense cluster center, or their gas deficiency is due to the fact that the halo had stopped accreting onto the disk when the galaxy entered the cluster.     

Do low surface brightness galaxies have dense disks?

The disk masses of four low-surface-brightness (LSB) galaxies are estimated using the criterion of marginal gravitational stability. The constructed mass models are close to those for a maximum disk. The results show that the disks of LSB galaxies may be significantly more massive than is usually believed based on their brightnesses. In this case, their surface densities and masses are fairly typical for higher-surface-brightness spirals. Alternatively, it may be that LSB disks are dynamically overheated.     

Estimating the masses of the spherical and disk components of galaxies via numerical simulations

A series of numerical N-body simulations is performed in order to dynamically model the properties of four galaxies (NGC 5603, NGC 3198, NGC 891, and NGC 1566) with known rotation curves, radial disk scales L, and velocity dispersions of old disk stars at various galactocentric distances r. Each model includes a three-dimensional collisionless disk and rigid spherical components, whose relative mass μ was treated as a free parameter that differed from simulation to simulation. The observed disk stellar velocity dispersions were assumed to be equal to or (in the general case) greater than the corresponding line-of-sight projections of the simulated values for the adopted μ after the initially unstable disk is heated and arrives at a steady state. A comparison of the simulated and observed rotational velocities and velocity dispersions provides evidence for “light” disks with μ≥2 in the disk (r<4L).     

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.     

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).     

The structure of matter flows in semi-detached binaries after the termination of mass transfer

We present the results of three-dimensional gas-dynamical simulations of matter flows in semi-detached binaries after termination of the mass transfer between the components of the system. The structure of the residual accretion disk is studied. When the mass transfer has ended, the quasi-elliptical disk becomes circular and its structure changes: tidal interactions result in the formation of a second arm in the spiral shock wave. In addition, a condensation (blob) moving through the disk with variable velocity is formed. The blob is maintained by interactions with the arms of the spiral shock and exists essentially over the entire lifetime of the disk. We also show that, for a viscosity corresponding to α～0.01 (typical for observed accretion disks), the lifetime of the residual disk is about 50 orbital periods.     

Formation of ring structures in galactic disks during close passages of galaxies

The formation of ring structures in galactic disks is investigated. It is shown that, in addition to the known mechanism of forming rings in “head-on” collisions between galaxies, ring structures can be formed during close passages of galaxies if the perturbing galaxy moves in a plane close to the equatorial plane of the perturbed disk galaxy, opposite to the direction of rotation of the disk. Numerical simulations of the formation of structures in the disk of a massive galaxy undergoing a passage with another galaxy are considered. The results of these cmputations show the formation of pronounced ring structures in the galactic disk when the initial inclination of the trajectory of the perturbing galaxy to the equatorial plane of the perturbed galaxy is no more than ~25°. However, the probability of close passages of galaxies with these parameters is small, as is the probability of head-on collisions. The characteristic time scale for the existence of pronounced rings is of order the dynamical time scale at the edge of the galaxy, 200–300 million years, close to the corresponding time for head-on collisions. The evolution of the rings has the same character in both cases: they gradually expand and move toward the periphery of the galaxy. The results of these simulations can also be applied to a close passage of one star by another star with a protoplanetary disk. According to the computation results, the characteristic time scale for the existence of pronounced rings in such a protoplanetary disk depends mainly on the size of the disk; this time scale can reach several tens of thousands of years for a disk radius of about 1000 AU. The formation of ring structures in such a disk could influence the formation and evolution of planetesimals, and possibly the character of the formation of planets and the distribution of their orbital semi-major axes.     

The volume density of gas in disk galaxies with low HI surface densities

Published data on rotation curves and the radial distribution of the surface density of neutral hydrogen (HI) in galaxies with a low gas content are used to calculate radial profiles of the volume density of HI in the planes of the galactic disks. A self-consistent model for the disks is used, taking into account the self-gravitation of the gas and the presence of a pseudo-isothermal, massive halo. Eleven low-surface-brightness (LSB) galaxies and three S0 galaxies in which HI is detected are considered. The gaseous and stellar disks are taken to be in equilibrium and axially symmetric, and the velocity dispersion in the stellar disk to be equal to the marginal value for gravitational perturbations; in general, this gives an upper limit for the gas density. It is shown that, on average, the gas volume densities are two orders of magnitude lower in LSB galaxies than in galaxies with normal brightnesses at the same R values, while the three S0 galaxies occupy an intermediate position. The volume density of gas observed at the galaxy peripheries are less than 10⁻²⁷ g/cm³, even in the plane of the disk. The role of the UV background in ionizing outer regions is discussed. The obtained gas densities can be used to estimate the star-forming efficiency in regions of low density.     

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.     

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.     

Properties of galactic disks at optical and near-IR wavelengths

We have analyzed the radial scales, central surface brightnesses, and colors of 400 disks of various types of galaxies. For nine galaxies, the brightness decrease and the central disk brightness were obtained via a two-dimensional decomposition of the U BV RI J H K photometric images into bulge and disk components. We used published disk parameters for 392 of the galaxies. The central surface brightness μ _0,i ⁰ and linear (disk) scale length h vary smoothly along the Hubble sequence of galaxies within a rather narrow interval. The disks of relatively early-type galaxies display higher central K surface brightnesses, higher central surface densities, higher central mass-to-luminosity ratios M/L(B), smaller sizes (relative to the diameter of the galaxy D ₂₅), redder integrated colors, and redder central colors. The color gradient normalized to the radius of the galaxy and the “blue” central surface brightness of the disk, μ _0,i/0(B), are both independent of the galaxy type. The radial disk scales in different photometric bands differ less in early-type than in late-type galaxies. A correlation between the central disk surface brightness and the total luminosity of the galaxy is observed. We also consider the influence of dust on the photometric parameters of the disks.     

Nonresonance spiral responses in disk galaxies

The behavior of the gravitational potential outside the region where the main spiral arms of galaxies are located is investigated. The characteristic features of this behavior include nearly circular extensions of the main arms, which typically have an angular extent of 90°. It is natural to interpret these quarter-turn spirals as the response of the galactic disk to the gravitational potential of the main spiral arms. The theoretical models are supported by observational data for the brightness distributions in both normal (NGC 3631) and barred (NGC 1365) galaxies.     

The star-formation efficiency and density of the disks of spiral galaxies

The four well studied spiral galaxies M33, M81, M100, and M101 are used to analyze the dependences of the star-formation rate (SFR) and star-formation efficiency (SFE = SFR/M _gas ) on galactocentric distance R and the photometric and some kinematic parameters of galactic disks. The dependences SFR(R) were estimated based on UV and far-infrared data using published extinction-corrected UV brightness profiles of the galaxies. The local SFE values are most closely related to the surface brightness (density) of the galactic disk at a given R, with this dependence being the same for all four galaxies (except for their central regions). In order to explain the observed disk densities in terms of a simple conservative model (“toy model”) for the evolution of the gas density, the local value of the parameter N in the Schmidt law for the disk (SFR ～ σ _gas ^N ) must not exceed unity. In this case, the observed dependences σ _gas (R) and SFE(R) can be matched assuming that accretion is occuring in the central regions of the disks.