Statistics on 24 spiral galaxies having different observed arm locations using different arm tracers

The density wave theory predicted some physical offsets among different tracers of star formation. To test this prediction, here we compiled data on 40 galaxies searched observationally for a physical offset between spiral arm tracers, and found that 24 of them have a positive offset. In a spiral arm, an arm tracer in a region with a given temperature may be at a different location (offset) than an arm tracer in a region with a colder temperature.Some conditions are found to be necessary or sufficient in order to detect an offset between two arm tracers. To find the offset of a tracer from another tracer, one needs a proper linear resolution. Starting in the dust lane and going across the spiral arm, we seek the observed physical width of the star-forming zone (offset). In our sample of 24 galaxies with measured offsets, we find offsets with a median value near 326 pc and a mean near 370 pc. These offsets are comparable to those found in our Milky Way galaxy, between the cold diffuse CO 1–0 gas set at 0 pc, and the hot dust near 350 pc.Preliminary statistics are performed on the angular velocity of the gas and stars and angular velocity of the spiral pattern. Their observed orbital velocity of 200 km/s at a typical galactic radius near 4 kpc yields an angular speed of the gas and stars near 60 km/s/kpc. Their deduced angular rotation for the spiral pattern averages 36 km/s/kpc. These observational results are close to the results predicted by the shock-induced star-forming density wave theory. These mean or median property values will be useful for finding other galaxies that can support density waves.     

The gradient of the brightest star age and density across the spiral arm S4 in the Andromeda galaxy

On a plate obtained with the 2-m RC telescope at the Bulgarian National Observatory about 1400 stars in the spiral arm S4 of the Andromeda galaxy were measured. The limit of completeness is 20 _. ^m 2 (B magnitudes). In the central part of S4 (Figure 3) a pronounced gradient of star luminosity and density is found (Figures 6 and 7a). Here the stars become fainter at about 2 ^m and their surface density decreases tenfold at the distance 1 kpc from the inner edge of the arm. We have interpreted the decline of star maximum brightness from this edge as age gradient and have evaluated from it the velocity of star formation propagation across the arm, which is about 60 km s^–1. If the Andromeda galaxy has trailing spiral arms and the pitch angle of S4 is about 25° in its central part, the pattern velocity p7–14 km s^–1 kpc^–1. This value is close to that obtained earlier with the help of the Cepheids in the same part of S4 (Efremov, 1980). The absence of a pronounced asymmetry in the star distribution across the arm in the OB82 region may be connected with the position of the strongest dust lanes in front of the stellar spiral arm here. We have stressed that in one part of the same spiral arm there may be a pronounced age gradient, and there may be no such gradient in the near-by one. In spite of the known difficulties in understanding the structure of the Andromeda galaxy it is possible to draw some conclusions which are important for the theory of spiral arms. The detailed investigations of the nearest galaxies are, therefore, most useful for understanding the spiral structure nature.     

The Velocity Field of Young Stars in the Solar Neighbourhood

A sample of O- and B-type stars with Hipparcos astrometric data, ages computed from Strömgren photometry and radial velocities, has been used to characterize the structure, age and kinematics of the Gould Belt system. The local spiral structure of our galaxy is determined from this sample, and also from a sample of Hipparcos Cepheid stars. The Gould Belt, with an orientation with respect to the galactic plane ofi _G = 16-22^° and Ω_G =275-295^°, extends up to a distance of 600 pc from the Sun. Roughly the 60-65% of the O and B stars younger than 60 Myr in the solar neighbourhood belong to this structure. Our results indicate that the kinematical behaviour of this system is complex, with an expansion motion in the solar neighbourhood (R<300 pc).In the frame of the Lin's theory, and analysing the O and B stars further than 600 pc and the Cepheids, we found a galactic spiral structure characterized by a 4-arm spiral pattern with the Sun located atψ_⊙ = 350-355 ± 30^° – near the Sagittarius-Carina arm– and outside the corotation circle. The angular rotation speed of the spiral pattern was found to be Ω_p = 31-32 ± 4 kms^-1 kpc^-1.     

Solar flare track densities in interplanetary dust particles: The determination of an asteroidal versus cometary source of the zodiacal dust cloud

Dust particles that are larger than 1 μm, when injected into the Solar System from comets and asteroids, will spiral into the Sun due to the Poynting-Robertson effect. During the process of spiraling in, such dust particles accumulate solar flare tracks in their component minerals. The accumulated track density for a given dust grain is a function of the duration of its space exposure and its distance from the Sun. Using a computer model, it was determined that the expected track density distributions from grains produced by comets are very different from those produced by asteroids. Individual asteroids produce populations of particles that arrive at 1 AU with scaled track density distributions containing “spikes,” while comets supply particles with a flatter and wider distribution of track densities. Particles with track densities above 3 × 10⁷ (sϱA/v) tracks/cm² have probably been exposed to solar flare tracks prior to injection into the interplanetary medium and are therefore likely to be asteroidal. Particles with track densities below 0.7 × 10⁷(sϱA/v) tracks/cm² must be derived from comets or Earth-crossing asteroids. Earth-crossing asteroids are not responsible for all the dust collected at 1 AU since they cannot produce the large track densities observed in some of the interplanetary dust particles collected in the stratosphere. The track densities observed in the stratospheric dust fall within the predicted range, but there is at present an insufficient number of carefully determined densities to make strong statements about the sources of the present dust population.     

Geometric Aspects and Testing of the Galactic Center Distance Determination from Spiral Arm Segments

We consider the problem of determining the geometric parameters of a Galactic spiral arm from its segment by including the distance to the spiral pole, i.e., the distance to the Galactic center (R₀). The question about the number of points belonging to one turn of a logarithmic spiral and defining this spiral as a geometric figure has been investigated numerically and analytically by assuming the direction to the spiral pole (to the Galactic center) to be known. Based on the results obtained, in an effort to test the new approach, we have constructed a simplified method of solving the problem that consists in finding the median of the values for each parameter from all possible triplets of objects in the spiral arm segment satisfying the condition for the angular distance between objects. Applying the method to the data on the spatial distribution of masers in the Perseus and Scutum arms (the catalogue by Reid et al. (2014)) has led to an estimate of R₀ = 8.8 ± 0.5 kpc. The parameters of five spiral arm segments have been determined from masers of the same catalogue. We have confirmed the difference between the spiral arms in pitch angle. The pitch angles of the arms revealed by masers are shown to generally correlate with R₀ in the sense that an increase in R₀ leads to a growth in the absolute values of the pitch angles.     

The structure of the spiral arm S4 in andromeda galaxy

TheUBV photometry of 690 stars in the spiral arm S4 and the U magnitudes of 120 stars in the spiral arm S6 with the help of the 2 m RCC telescope of the Rozhen Observatory at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, has been used to obtain the colour-magnitude and colour-colour diagrams across the arms. Our age estimations are compared with van den Bergh's (1964). The age gradient across the S4 arm has been found. The colour excessE _B-V is highest at the inner edge of the arm S4. From the age we have evaluated the velocity of star formation propagation across the arm S4 60 km s^–1 , pattern frequency _p 14 km s^–1 kpc^–1 and corotation radiusR _c20 kpc. The structure of S4 along the arm is complicated. In the OB 82 region an age gradient is absent. The young associationOB 79b is located near the outer edge of S4 and it has a large absorptionA _v2^m.5 contrary to the density wave prediction. This association bears no relation to the spiral density wave and it is probably, supernova events that stimulated the star formation in it. The colour excessE _R-V is randomly distributed and the youngest stars are concentrated in the middle of the S6 arm. A value of pattern frequency _p = 12km s^–1 kpc^–1 andR _c=12 kpc of our Galaxy has been obtained from the age distribution of the open clusters and cepheids across the Carina-Sagittarius arm. The spiral structure of M31 is compared with that of the galaxy. There is a similarity between S4 in M31 and Carina-Sagittarius in the Galaxy, and also between the S6 and Perseus arms. The Orion arm in the Galaxy bears no relation to the wave density.     

Parameters of the spiral structure of the galaxy from data on δ Cephei stars

We determined the locations of Galactic spiral arm segments for various age groups from the available data on the positions, ages, radial velocities, and proper motions of 440 δ Cephei variables using a previously developed technique. We obtained such parameters of the Galactic spiral structure as the arm pitch angle, , and the pattern speed, Ω_P = 21.7 ± 2.8 km s^?1 kpc^?1, which are comparable to and Ω_P = 20.4 ± 2.5 km s^?1 kpc^?1, respectively, determined previously from open star clusters. Based on the radial velocities and proper motions of the sample stars, we derived the rotation curve of the Galaxy for the range of Galactocentric distances approximately from 6 to 15 kpc. Using the pattern speed, we determined the positions of the corotation region and the inner and outer Lindblad resonances. We estimated the perturbation amplitudes of the Galactic velocity field, f _R = ?1.8 ± 2.5 km s^?1 and f _? = +4.0 ± 3.4 km s^?1.     

Spatially-resolved stellar population properties of the M51–NGC 5195 system from multi-wavelength photometric data

Using multi-band photometric images of M51 and its companion NGC 5195 from ultraviolet to optical and infrared,we investigate spatially resolved stellar population properties of this interacting system with stellar population synthesis models.The observed infrared excess(IRX)is used to constrain dust extinction.Stellar mass is also inferred from the model fitting.By fitting observed spectral energy distributions(SEDs)with synthetical ones,we derive two-dimensional distributions of stellar age,metallicity,dust extinction and stellar mass.In M51,two grand-designed spiral arms extending from the bulge show young age,rich metallicity and abundant dust.The inter-arm regions are filled with older,metalpoorer and less dusty stellar populations.Except for the spiral arm extending from M51 into NGC 5195,the stellar population properties of NGC 5195 are quite featureless.NGC 5195 is much older than M51,and its core is very dusty with AV up to 1.67 mag and dense in stellar mass surface density.The close encounters might drive the dust in the spiral arm of M51 into the center of NGC 5195.     

Leading wave as a component of the spiral pattern of the galaxy

The spiral pattern of the Galaxy, identified by analyzing the kinematics of young stars within 3 kpc of the Sun, is Fourier decomposed into spiral harmonics. The spiral pattern of the Galaxy is shown to be representable as a superposition of trailing and leading waves with interarm distances of λ = 1.8 ± 0.4 and 4 ± 2 kpc, respectively. Shock waves are probably present only in the portions of the trailing spiral pattern where it crosses the crest of the leading wave. The small interarm distance of the trailing spiral wave (λ = 1.8 kpc) can be explained by its evolution—by the decrease in the interarmd istance as the wave is displaced toward the inner Lindblad resonance. The Carina arm may be part of this resonance ring.     

Outer pseudoring in the galaxy

The kinematics of the Sagittarius (R = 5.7 kpc),Carina (R = 6.5 kpc), Cygnus (R = 6.8 kpc), and Perseus (R = 8.2 kpc) arms suggests the existence of two spiral patterns in the Galaxy that rotate with different speeds. The inner spiral pattern that is represented by the Sagittarius arm rotates with the speed of the bar, Ω_b = 60 ± 5 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹, while the outer spiral pattern that includes the Carina, Cygnus, and Perseus arms rotates with a lower speed, Ω_s = 12–22 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹.The existence of an outer slow tightly wound spiral pattern and an inner fast spiral pattern can be explained by numerically simulating the dynamics of outer pseudorings. The outer Lindblad resonance of the bar must be located between the Sagittarius and Carina arms. The Cygnus arm appears as a connecting link between the fast and slow spiral patterns.     

Study of faint young open clusters as tracers of spiral features in our galaxy

Continuing the study of faint young open clusters as tracers of spiral features in our Galaxy, photoelectric and photographic photometry of 39 stars was done in the field of the faint open cluster NGC 2236 ≡ OCl 501 in the direction of Monoceros constellation. Out of these stars, a total of 22 down tom _v ≃ 15.4 mag have been found to be probable members. There is apparently a variable extinction across the field of the cluster with E(B - V) ranging between 0.84 mag and 0.68 mag. The median age of this cluster is estimated to be 7.6 × 10⁷ years and the cluster is thereby considered as belonging to the marginally old category. Thus, it cannot be specifically used as a spiral arm tracer in the study of our Galaxy. This cluster is located at a distance of 3.72 ± 0.13 kpc, which places it at the inner edge of the outer Perseus spiral feature of the Milky Way.     

Parameters of the spiral structure of the galaxy from data on open star clusters

We use data on open star clusters (OSCs) from the Homogeneous Catalog of OSC Parameters to determine some of the parameters of the spiral structure of our Galaxy: the pitch angle of the spiral arms \(i = 21\mathop .\limits^ \circ 5\), the pattern speed Ω_p = 20.4 ± 2.5 km s^?1 kpc^?1, and the initial phase of the spiral θ₀ = 206°. The spiral pattern of the Galaxy proves to have been virtually unchanged over the last billion years, and signatures of the concentration of objects toward the spiral arms can be traced back to this age. However, the number of spiral arms in the structure cannot be determined from OSCs.     

Investigation of the parameters of spiral pattern in galaxies: the arm width

In this work, we determine the parameters of spiral structure for a sample of face-on spiral galaxies. In practice, the solution to this problem is a hard task because of the diversity of observed characteristics associated with spiral structure, such as the number of arms, their shape, arm contrast, etc. We study spiral structure in galaxies based on an analysis of photometric cuts perpendicular to the arm direction.The method is based on an approximation of these slices with an analytical function and derivation of the parameters of spiral structure(arm width, asymmetry, pitch angle) using the fitted parameters from this approximation. The algorithm has been applied to a sample of 155 galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey in different passbands. In this paper, we only consider the results on arm width: most spirals exhibit an increase in their width with galactocentric distance. Only 14 per cent of galaxies in our sample show an opposite trend or have an almost constant arm width at all radii.     

Axisymmetric dusty gas jet in the inner coma of a comet

The behavior of expanding pure and dusty gas jets is investigated in the inner coma of an H₂O-dominated comet by numerically solving the axisymmetric, time-dependent, coupled hydrodynamic equations for H₂O gas and single-sized dust (0.65 μ) in polar coordinates (r, θ, φ). The jet profile is assumed to be Gaussian on the surface of a nucleus. The viscosity of the gas is taken into account. Two-dimensional distributions of the densities, velocities in the r and θ directions, and temperatures for the gas and dust have been obtained. For the dusty jet, the axisymmetric transonic solution for the gas has been calculated time-dependently. For a narrow dusty gas jet (i.e., of breadth 10°), the gas density peaks shift from the central axis of the jet (θ = 0°) to its wings (θ ∼ 30°) with the gas flowing away from the cometary nucleus, owing to a steep density gradient in the θ direction. Dragged by this laterally expanding gas outflow, the dust particles are swept away from the central axis and are also concentrated more sharply at θ ∼ 35° than the gas particles. This lateral expansion of the jet is overwhelming only within the innermost region (r ≦ 10 km). The jet feature for the gas becomes indiscernible by the time the flow reaches the outer boundary (r = 100 km), while the corresponding dust feature remains even at the outer boundary. The radial velocities of the gas and dust are enhanced inside the jet, compared with those in the background. For a broad pure gas jet (i.e., of breadth 30°), on the other hand, the gas density peaks do not shift to the wings and the jet feature can still be seen at the outer boundary, in contrast to the narrow case.     

NGC 7479: A Case Study

The most salient features of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 7479 include the unusually strong and long bar, asymmetric spiral structure and peculiar dust lanes. The central, bar-dominated region has been robbed of neutral atomic gas. The neutral hydrogen kinematics of the strong western spiral arm are consistent with substantial non-circular motions. In contrast, the molecular gas is strongly concentrated in the nucleus and along the bar dust lanes. A molecular disc with near-circular motion is found in the nuclear area. Outside this component, the molecular gas has a strong radial velocity component consistent with inflow. The velocity gradients across the bar dust lanes show jumps of a few hundred km s^-1. A comparison of the dust/gas lane morphology between the observations and numerical simulations suggests that the corotation radius is at 1.1 times the bar length. I have modelled many of the peculiar morphological and kinematic features in numerical simulations of a minor merger. The predicted position of the merging companion matches the position of a bright clump in the bar with perturbed kinematics. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Estimation of the galactic spiral pattern speed from Cepheids

To study the peculiarities of the Galactic spiral density wave, we have analyzed the space velocities of Galactic Cepheids with propermotions from the Hipparcos catalog and line-of-sight velocities from various sources. First, based on the entire sample of 185 stars and taking R ₀ = 8 kpc, we have found the components of the peculiar solar velocity (u _⊙, v _⊙) = (7.6, 11.6) ± (0.8, 1.1) km s^?1, the angular velocity of Galactic rotation Ω₀ = 27.5 ± 0.5 km s^?1 kpc^?1 and its derivatives Ω′₀ = ?4.12 ± 0.10 km s^?1 kpc^?2 and Ω″₀ = 0.85 ± 0.07 km s^?1 kpc^?3, the amplitudes of the velocity perturbations in the spiral density wave f _R = ?6.8 ± 0.7 and f _θ = 3.3 ± 0.5 km s^?1, the pitch angle of a two-armed spiral pattern (m = 2) i = ?4.6° ± 0.1° (which corresponds to a wavelength λ = 2.0 ± 0.1 kpc), and the phase of the Sun in the spiral density wave χ_⊙ = ?193° ± 5°. The phase χ_⊙ has been found to change noticeably with the mean age of the sample. Having analyzed these phase shifts, we have determined the mean value of the angular velocity difference Ω _p ? Ω, which depends significantly on the calibrations used to estimate the individual ages of Cepheids. When estimating the ages of Cepheids based on Efremov’s calibration, we have found |Ω _p ? Ω₀| = 10 ± 1_stat ± 3_syst km s^?1 kpc^?1. The ratio of the radial component of the gravitational force produced by the spiral arms to the total gravitational force of the Galaxy has been estimated to be f _r0 = 0.04 ± 0.01.     

A kinematic study of K-type stars

Recently available radial velocity data of K-stars are used for an analysis of their kinematics in the solar neighbourhood. Solution for the mean solar motion is u₀ = −9.1 ± 2.2, v₀ = −20.4 ± 2.6, w₀ = −5.2 ± 2.5 km/s, in fair agreement with previous determinations. Another solution using proper motions from the SAO Catalogue shows no significant differences. After dividing the stars into groups according to their w-velocities, it was found that the younger disk stars have an outward (away from the Galactic centre) motion of about 7 km/s relative to the older disk stars. Also, the mean solar motion found for these nearby K-stars appears to be consistent with the kinematics of the Gould's Belt.     

Comet C/2010X1 (Elenin). Unrealized expectations

We present the analysis of the photometric and spectroscopic data obtained for comet C/2010 X1 (Elenin) when it was at a distance of 2.92 AU from the Sun. The observations were made at the prime focus of the 6-m BTA telescope with the SCORPIO focal reducer. The magnitude of the comet, measured in the R _c -band with an 9?? aperture radius amounted to 16?8 ± 0?1. The computed dust production rate was estimated to be about 6 kg/s. The cometary coma manifested the emissions in the (0?C0) band of the CN molecule violet system, and a number of emission band heads of the C₃ molecule. The gas production rate of the molecules is determined using the Haser model and amounts to 1.41 × 10²⁴ and 4.20 × 10²³ molecules per second for CN and C₃, respectively. The ratio of gas production rates log[Q(C₃)/Q(CN)] is equal to ?0.85, which is close to the mean value, determined for a significant number of comets. A normalized gradient of the cometary dust reflectivity, calculated for the 4430?C6840 ? spectral range amounts to 14.3 ± 1.2%.     

Bulk motions of spiral galaxies in the z = 0.03 volume

We analyze the peculiar velocity field for 2400 flat spiral galaxies selected from an infrared sky survey (2MFGC). The distances to the galaxies have been determined from the Tully-Fisher relation in the photometric J band with a dispersion of 0^m.45. The bulk motion of this sample relative to the cosmic microwave background (3K) frame has an amplitude of 199 ± 37 km s^?1 in the direction l = 290° ± 11°, b = +1° ± 9°. The amplitude of the dipole motion tends to decrease with distance in accordance with the expected convergence of bulk flows in the 3K frame. We believe that external massive attractors similar to the Shapley cluster concentration are responsible for ～60% of the local flow velocity in the z = 0.03 volume.     

CCD BVI Photometry of the Southern Open Clusters Pismis 23 and BH 222

CCD BVI Johnson–Cousins photometry of the open cluster candidates Pismis 23 and BH 222 is presented. Both the analysis of the colour-magnitude diagrams and star counts performed in the regions of these two objects support their physical reality. For Pismis 23 we derive E(B?V) = 2.0 ± 0.1, E(V?I) = 2.6 ± 0.1, a distance from the Sun d= (2.6 ± 0.6) kpc and an age of (300 ± 100) Myr, while for BH 222 we obtain E(V?I) = 2. 4 ± 0.2, d= (6.0 ± 2.7) kpc and (60 ± 30) Myr. Both objects, located beyond the Sagittarius arm, are among the most reddened and distant open clusters known in the direction towards the Galactic centre.