Kinematics and stellar populations of the dwarf elliptical galaxy IC 3653

We present the first 3D observations of a diffuse elliptical galaxy (dE). The good quality data (S/N up to 40) reveal the kinematical signature of an embedded stellar disc, reminiscent of what is commonly observed in elliptical galaxies, though similarity of their origins is questionable. Colour map built from Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) images confirms the presence of this disc. Its characteristic scale (about 3 arcsec =250 pc) is about a half of galaxy's effective radius, and its metallicity is 0.1–0.2 dex larger than the underlying population. Fitting the spectra with synthetic single stellar populations (SSP), we found an SSP-equivalent age of 5 Gyr and nearly solar metallicity [Fe/H]  =−0.06  dex. We checked that these determinations are consistent with those based on Lick indices, but have smaller error bars. The kinematical discovery of a stellar disc in dE gives additional support to an evolutionary link from dwarf irregular galaxies due to stripping of the gas against the intracluster medium.     

Galaxy groups at 0.3 ≤z≤ 0.55 – I. Group properties

The evolution of galaxies in groups may have important implications for the evolution of the star formation history of the Universe, since many processes which operate in groups may suppress star formation and the fraction of galaxies in bound groups grows rapidly between   z = 1  and the present day. In this paper, we present an investigation of the properties of galaxies in galaxy groups at intermediate redshift  ( z ∼ 0.4)  . The groups were selected from the Canadian Network for Observational Cosmology Redshift Survey (CNOC2) redshift survey as described by Carlberg et al., with further spectroscopic follow-up undertaken at the Magellan telescope in order to improve the completeness and depth of the sample. We present the data for the individual groups, and find no clear trend in the fraction of passive galaxies with group velocity dispersion and group concentration. We stack the galaxy groups in order to compare the properties of group galaxies with those of field galaxies at the same redshift. The groups contain a larger fraction of passive galaxies than the field, this trend being particularly clear for galaxies brighter than   M _{B J} < −20  in the higher velocity dispersion groups. In addition, we see evidence for an excess of bright passive galaxies in the groups relative to the field. In contrast, the luminosity functions of the star-forming galaxies in the groups and the field are consistent. These trends are qualitatively consistent with the differences between group and field galaxies seen in the local Universe.     

F stars, metallicity and the ages of red galaxies at z > 1

We explore whether the rest-frame near-ultraviolet spectral region, observable in high-redshift galaxies via optical spectroscopy, contains sufficient information to allow the degeneracy between age and metallicity to be lifted. We do this by first testing the ability of evolutionary synthesis models to reclaim the correct metallicity when fitted to the near-ultraviolet spectra of F stars of known (subsolar and supersolar) metallicity. F stars are of particular interest because the rest-frame near-ultraviolet spectra of the oldest known elliptical galaxies at   z > 1  appear to be dominated by F stars near to the main-sequence turn-off.
We find that, in the case of the F stars, where the Hubble Space Telescope ultraviolet spectra have a high signal-to-noise ratio, fitting models in which the metallicity is allowed to vary as a free parameter is rather successful at deriving the correct metallicity. As a result, the estimated turn-off ages of these stars yielded by model-fitting are well constrained. Encouraged by this we have fitted these same variable-metallicity models to the deep, optical spectra of the   z ≃ 1.5 mJy  radio galaxies 53W091 and 53W069 obtained with the Keck telescope. While the age and metallicity are not so easily constrained for these galaxies, we find that even when metallicity is allowed as a free parameter, the best estimates of their ages are still ≥3 Gyr, with ages younger than 2 Gyr now strongly excluded. Furthermore, we find that a search of the entire parameter space of metallicity and star formation history using MOPED leads to the same conclusion. Our results therefore continue to argue strongly against an Einstein–de Sitter universe, and favour a Λ-dominated universe in which star formation in at least these particular elliptical galaxies was completed somewhere in the redshift range   z = 3–5  .     

Searching for an intrinsic stellar population in compact high-velocity clouds

We are investigating the hypothesis that Compact High-Velocity Clouds (CHVCs) are the left-over building blocks of Local Group galaxies. To this end, we are searching for their embedded stellar populations using FORS at the VLT. The search is done with single-star photometry in V and I bands, which is sensitive to both, young and old, stellar populations. Five CHVCs of our sample have been observed so far down to I=24. We pointed the VLT towards the highest HI column density regions, as determined in Effelsberg radio data. In an alternate approach, we searched 2MASS public data towards those 5 CHVCs down to K=16. While the VLT data probe the central regions out to distance moduli of about 27, the 2MASS data are sensitive to a population of red giant stars to distance moduli of about 20. The 2MASS data, on the other hand, cover a much wider field of view than the VLT data (radius of 1 degree versus FORS field of 6.8 arcmin). We did not find a stellar population intrinsic to the CHVCs in either data. In this paper, we illustrate our search methods. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

西藏冈底斯-念靑唐古拉成矿带典型矿床硫化物Pb同位素特征——对成矿元素组合分带性的指示

冈底斯-念青唐古拉成矿带矿床成矿元素组合由南向北存在着Cu-Au、Cu-Mo向Pb-Zn-Cu-Fe、Pb-Zn过渡的变化规律,但引起该变化规律的原因目前少研究。本文通过对成矿带典型矿床Pb同位素特征较为系统的总结,并结合成矿年代学和区域构造演化研究成果,从成矿物质来源的角度对该分带性进行了初步探讨。研究表明成矿带由南到北成矿物质来源存在着差异:最南端Cu-Au矿床Pb同位素组成具幔源特征(207Pb/204Pb和208Pb/204Pb平均值分别为15.490和38.016),反映成矿物质来自于俯冲过程中的交代地幔楔;最北端的Pb-Zn矿床Pb同位素组成与念青唐古拉群基底片麻岩相近(207Pb/204Pb和208Pb/204Pb分别变化于15.641～15.738和38.976～39.362),反映成矿物质来自于基底片麻岩。Pb-Zn-Cu-Fe矿床Pb同位素组成介于幔源Pb和上地壳Pb之间,且具混合线特征,反映了同碰撞期成矿物质同时从俯冲板片和念青唐古拉基底片麻岩活化的混源模式;而Cu-Mo矿床不具混合线特征的造山带Pb同位素组成,反映了成矿物质来源于俯冲阶段楔形地幔部分熔融并底侵到地壳底部与地壳发生物质交换后所形成的新生下地壳源区。甲马Cu多金属矿床Pb同位素组成具幔源和造山带两个端元,推测除新生下地壳源区提供成矿物质外,叶巴组火山岩也提供了部分成矿物质。由南向北成矿物质来源的差异很大程度上与板片俯冲的"距离效应"有关,正是由于成矿物质来源的差异导致成矿带成矿元素分带性的形成。