Disk boundaries in spiral galaxies

We explore the hypothesis that the outer boundaries (“cutoffs”) of the stellar disks observed in many galaxies are determined by the condition of local gravitational (Jeans) stability for the gaseous protodisks at large galactocentric distances. The ratio of the surface density of the disk Σ_disk to the critical value for Jeans instability Σ_crit is computed for a number of galaxies, assuming that the gas velocity dispersion in the forming disk corresponded to its current thickness and that the disk itself is in a quasi-equilibrium state. The mean estimated stellar velocity dispersion in the vicinity of the cutoff (12 km/s) is close to the typical velocity dispersions of gaseous clouds in disk galaxies. At greater distances, such velocity dispersions should ensure gravitational stability of the disk both at the present epoch and in the past. The cutoff radius of the disk R _cut is correlated with other disk parameters, and the ratio Σ_disk/Σ_crit at R _cut is close to unity in most cases. We conclude that the available observational data agree well with the hypothesis that stellar disk cutoffs are due to a rapid decrease in the star-formation rate beyond R _cut, where the gaseous disk has always been stable.     

The peculiar rotation curve of NGC 157

We present the results of a new H i , optical, and Hα interferometric study of the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 157. Our combined C- and D-array observations with the VLA show a large-scale, ring-like structure in the neutral hydrogen underlying the optical disc, together with an extended, low surface density component going out to nearly twice the Holmberg radius. Beginning just inside the edge of the star-forming disc, the line of nodes in the gas disc commences a 60° warp, while at the same time, the rotation velocity drops by almost half its peak value of 200 km s⁻¹, before levelling off again in the outer parts. While a flat rotation curve in NGC 157 cannot be ruled out, supportive evidence for an abrupt decline comes from the ionized gas kinematics, the optical surface photometry, and the global H i profile. A standard 'maximum-disc' mass model predicts comparable amounts of dark and luminous matter within NGC 157. Alternatively, a model employing a disc truncated at 2 disc scalelengths could equally well account for the unusual form of the rotation curve in NGC 157.     

Central holes in disks of spiral galaxies

On the basis of the solutions obtained in the previous paper, the changes in the scenario of the standard model of the Big Bang are found. The chaos degree (constrainst on fluctuation spectra) is obtained, which could be still preserved by the initially completely chaotic Universe at the time of light elements nucleosynthesist _es. The time boundaries of hadron and lepton eras and the time the electron neutrinos and neutrons become frozen in reactions of weak interaction may be shifted up to 1.4 times. The corresponding temperatures may shift off from the standard ones 0.88 times if the mean-square level of fluctuations is close to unity. If the density of the energy of fluctuations concentrated in the short-wave region of the spectrum is less than 1.5 ^– , the nucleosynthesis leads to a helium abundance coinciding with the observe one. If at the timet _es the maximum of the spectral density of the energy is in the long-wave region, that is _max ct _es the level of the chaos during the period of nucleosynthesis is restricted to 1.76 (where |C _K |² d³ K,C _K is Fourier component of the amplitude of metric fluctuations). In particular, the protogalactic vortical disturbances with a wide spectrum 4 × 10^{3 -1}( = K/K, = /_crit) are compatible with the observed helium abundance.     

The gas content in galactic disks: Correlation with kinematics

We consider the relationship between the total HI mass in late-type galaxies and the kinematic properties of their disks. The mass M_HI for galaxies with a wide variety of properties, from dwarf dIrr galaxies with active star formation to giant low-brightness galaxies, is shown to correlate with the product V_cR₀ (V_c is the rotational velocity, and R₀ is the radial photometric disks cale length), which characterizes the specific angular momentum of the disk. This correlation, along with the decrease in the relative mass of the gas in a galaxy with increasing V_c, can be explained in terms of the previous assumption that the gas density in the disks of most galaxies is maintained at a level close to the threshold (marginal) stability of a gaseous layer to local gravitational perturbations. In this case, the regulation mechanism of the star formation rate associated with the growth of local gravitational instability in the gaseous layer must play a crucial role in the evolution of the gas content in the galactic disk.     

Does the LMC possess a dark bulge?

A series of numerical dynamical models for the LMC are constructed in order to fit the observed rotational velocities and stellar velocity dispersions at various galactocentric distances. The models include a three-dimensional spherical disk and nonevolving spherical components with various relative masses. The two LMC rotation curves presented by Kim et al. (1998) and Sofue (2000), which differ strongly in the inner region of the galaxy, are compared. The latter curve requires the presence of a massive dark bulge. Models based on the rotation curve of Sofue (2000) cannot account for the observed velocity dispersion or the presence of a long-lived bar in the galaxy. A model with no dark bulge is in good agreement with the observations if we assume that the disk dominates over the halo in terms of the mass within the optical radius (about 7 kpc).     

Stellar velocity dispersion and mass estimation for galactic disks

Available velocity dispersion estimates for the old stellar population of galactic disks at galactocentric distances r?2L (where L is the photometric radial scale length of the disk) are used to determine the threshold local surface density of disks that are stable against gravitational perturbations. The mass of the disk M_d calculated under the assumption of its marginal stability is compared with the total mass M_t and luminosity L _B of the galaxy within r=4L. We corroborate the conclusion that a substantial fraction of the mass in galaxies is probably located in their dark halos. The ratio of the radial velocity dispersion to the circular velocity increases along the sequence of galactic color indices and decreases from the early to late morphological types. For most of the galaxies with large color indices (B–V)₀>0.75, which mainly belong to the S0 type, the velocity dispersion exceeds significantly the threshold value required for the disk to be stable. The reverse situation is true for spiral galaxies: the ratios M_d/L_B for these agree well with those expected for evolving stellar systems with the observed color indices. This suggests that the disks of spiral galaxies underwent no significant dynamical heating after they reached a quasi-equilibrium stable state.     

Minimum velocity dispersion in stable stellar disks. Numerical simulations

N-body dynamical simulations are used to analyze the conditions for the gravitational stability of a three-dimensional stellar disk in the gravitational field of two rigid spherical components—a bulge and halo whose central concentrations and relative masses vary over wide ranges. The number of point masses N in the simulations varies from 40 to 500 000 and the evolution of the simulated systems is followed over 10–20 rotation periods of the outer edge of the disk. The initially unstable disks are heated and, as a rule, reach a quasi-stationary equilibrium with a steady-state radial-velocity dispersion c_r over five to eight turns. The radial behavior of the Toomre stability parameter Q_T(r) for the final state of the disk is estimated. Simple models are used to analyze the dependence of the gravitational stability of the disk on the relative masses of the spherical components, disk thickness, degree of differential rotation, and initial state of the disk. Formal application of existing, analytical, local criteria for marginal stability of the disk can lead to errors in c_r of more than a factor of 1.5. It is suggested that the approximate constancy of Q_T?1.2–1.5 for r?(1–2)×L (where L is the radial scale of disk surface density), valid for a wide range of models, can be used to estimate upper limits for the mass and density of a disk based on the observed distributions of the rotational velocity of the gaseous component and of the stellar velocity dispersion.     

Spiral galaxies with non-typical mass-to-light ratios

Total mass-to-light ratio M/L _B for S0 — Irr galaxies, whereM is the dynamical mass within the optical radius R ₂₅ (corresponding to 25 ^m /sq. arcsec in the B band), increases systematically with (B-V)₀ color, but slower than that is predicted by stellar population evolution models without dark halo. It shows that the mean ratio between dark halo and stellar masses is higher for more “blue“ galaxies. However some galaxies don’t follow this general trend. The properties of galaxies with extremely high and extremely low values of M/L _B ratios are compared, and different factors, accounting for the extremes, are analyzed. The conclusion is that in some cases too high or too low M/L _B ratios are associated with observational errors, in other cases—with non-typical dark halo mass fraction, and in some cases — with peculiarities of disc stellar population. Particularly, discs of some galaxies with low M/L _B ratios turn out to be unusually “light” for their luminosity and colors, which indicates a substantial deficit of low mass stars as the most probable cause of low M/L _B .     

On the mass and density of the stellar disk of M33

The disk surface density of the nearby spiral galaxy M33 is estimated assuming that it is marginally stable against gravitational perturbations. For this purpose we used the radial profile of line-of-sight velocity dispersion of the disk planetary nebulae obtained by Ciardullo et al. (2004). The surface density profile we obtained is characterized by the radial scalelength which is close to the photometrical one and is in a good agreement with the rotation curve of M33 and with the mass-to-light ratio which follows from the stellar population model. However at the galactocentric distance r > 7 kpc the dynamical overheating of the disk remains quite possible. The thickness of the stellar disk of M33 should increase outwards from the center. The dark halo to total mass ratio is estimated as a function of r. The effective oxygen yield obtained in the frame of instantaneous recycling approximation using the disk surface density and the observed gradient of O/H increases with radius. It may indicate that the role of accretion of metalpoor gas in the chemical evolution of interstellar medium decreases outwards.     

Galaxies with rows

The results of a search for galaxies with straight structural elements, usually spiral-arm rows (“rows” in the terminology of Vorontsov-Vel'yaminov), are reported. The list of galaxies that possess (or probably possess) such rows includes about 200 objects, of which about 70% are brighter than 14^m. On the whole, galaxies with rows make up 6–8% of all spiral galaxies with well-developed spiral patterns. Most galaxies with rows are gas-rich Sbc-Scd spirals. The fraction of interacting galaxies among them is appreciably higher than among galaxies without rows. Earlier conclusions that, as a rule, the lengths of rows are similar to their galactocentric distances and that the angles between adjacent rows are concentrated near 120° are confirmed. It is concluded that the rows must be transient hydrodynamic structures that develop in normal galaxies.