Structure and dynamics of galaxies with a low surface-brightness disc – I. The stellar and ionized-gas kinematics

Photometry and long-slit spectroscopy are presented for a sample of six galaxies with a low surface-brightness stellar disc and a bulge. The characterizing parameters of the bulge and disc components were derived by means of a two-dimensional photometric decomposition of the images of the sample galaxies. Their surface-brightness distribution was assumed to be the sum of the contribution of a Sérsic bulge and an exponential disc, with each component being described by elliptical and concentric isophotes of constant ellipticity and position angle. The stellar and ionized-gas kinematics were measured along the major and minor axes in half of the sample galaxies, whereas the other half was observed only along two diagonal axes. Spectra along two diagonal axes were obtained also for one of the objects with major and minor axis spectra. The kinematic measurements extend in the disc region out to a surface-brightness level  μ _R ≈ 24  mag arcsec⁻², reaching in all cases the flat part of the rotation curve. The stellar kinematics turns out to be more regular and symmetric than the ionized-gas kinematics, which often shows the presence of non-circular, off-plane and non-ordered motions. This raises the question about the reliability of the use of the ionized gas as the tracer of the circular velocity in the modelling of the mass distribution, in particular in the central regions of low surface-brightness galaxies.     

The coalescence of invariant manifolds and the spiral structure of barred galaxies

In a previous paper (Voglis et al., Paper I), we demonstrated that, in a rotating galaxy with a strong bar, the unstable asymptotic manifolds of the short-period family of unstable periodic orbits around the Lagrangian points L ₁ or L ₂ create correlations among the apocentric positions of many chaotic orbits, thus supporting a spiral structure beyond the bar. In this paper, we present evidence that the unstable manifolds of all the families of unstable periodic orbits near and beyond corotation contribute to the same phenomenon. Our results refer to a N -body simulation, a number of drawbacks of which, as well as the reasons why these do not significantly affect the main results, are discussed. We explain the dynamical importance of the invariant manifolds as due to the fact that they produce a phenomenon of 'stickiness' slowing down the rate of chaotic escape in an otherwise non-compact region of the phase space. We find a stickiness time of the order of 100 dynamical periods, which is sufficient to support a long-living spiral structure. Manifolds of different families become important at different ranges of values of the Jacobi constant. The projections of the manifolds of all the different families in the configuration space produce a pattern due to the 'coalescence' of the invariant manifolds. This follows closely the maxima of the observed   m = 2  component near and beyond corotation. Thus, the manifolds support both the outer edge of the bar and the spiral arms.     

Dynamical response to supernova-induced gas removal in spiral galaxies with dark matter halo

We investigate the dynamical response, in terms of disc size and rotation velocity, to mass loss by supernovae in the evolution of spiral galaxies. A thin baryonic disc having the Kuzmin density profile embedded in a spherical dark matter halo having a density profile proposed by Navarro, Frenk & White is considered. For the purpose of comparison, we also consider the homogeneous and   r ⁻¹  profiles for dark matter in a truncated spherical halo. Assuming for simplicity that the dark matter distribution is not affected by mass-loss from discs and the change of baryonic disc matter distribution is homologous, we evaluate the effects of dynamical response in the resulting discs. We found that the dynamical response only for an adiabatic approximation of mass-loss can simultaneously account for the rotation velocity and disc size as observed particularly in dwarf spiral galaxies, thus reproducing the Tully–Fisher relation and the size versus magnitude relation over the full range of magnitude. Furthermore, we found that the mean specific angular momentum in discs after the mass-loss becomes larger than that before the mass-loss, suggesting that the mass-loss would most likely occur from the central disc region where the specific angular momentum is low.     

Open star clusters in the spiral arms of our Galaxy

We consider the age distributions of open star clusters attributed to three segments of Galactic spiral arms. The smoothed distributions of clusters on the age-Galactocentric angle plane show a great nonuniformity. The time dependence of the formation rate of Galactic disk clusters recovered by taking into account selection effects and dynamical evolution of clusters shows that, on average, the formation rate of open star clusters decreases with time. This is in agreement with the increase in star formation rate into the past, as follows from the study of this process by the method of stellar population synthesis. The present time is the epoch of a current maximum of the cluster formation rate. In addition to the current maximum, there have been at least three more maxima with a period of 300–400 Myr and a duration of no more than 300 Myr. The age distributions are consistent with the pattern of star formation governed by the successive passages of density waves through each examined volume of the Galactic disk. The spiral structure becomes more complex when passing from the inner regions of the Galaxy to its outer regions.     

超新星爆发与暗晕中重子物质的丢失

讨论了在以冷暗物质为主的宇宙中,超新星爆发对矮星系演化的反馈作用。建立了星系的质量丢失模型,提出了理论模型与观测进行比较的方法。对数值计算结果的理论分析表明,当星系外围存在一个暗物质晕时,由超新星爆发引起的质量丢失虽然受到了极大的限制,却不像人们预期的那么困难。如果假定星系的形成红移为ｚ＝２～８,那么,在所选取的参数范围内,理论计算和观测结果是相符合的。这种定性上的符合显示出,星系的质量越小,它们就形成得越早．     

Satellite and ship observations of Kuroshio warm-core ring 93A off Sanriku, northwestern North Pacific, in spring 1997

Synoptic ship and satellite observations were performed of the Kuroshio warm-core ring (KWCR) 93A and its adjacent waters, off Sanriku, northwestern North Pacific, between early April and late June 1997. The temporal and spatial distribution of chlorophylla (Chl-a) and sea surface temperature in the study area were analyzed using data from ADEOS Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner (OCTS) and NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). The objective of this study was to describe the temporal and spatial variability of the spring bloom and understand its relationship with the changes in the hydrographic structure of these waters in and around KWCR 93A. The maximum value of Chl-a concentration in the ring was less than 1 mg/m³ during April. The spring bloom in the ring occurred early in May and the relatively high maximum (>1.0 mg/m³) continued from early in May to mid-June. In late June, a ship-observed surface Chl-a concentration of less than 0.4 mg/m³ suggests that the spring bloom had already declined in and around KWCR 93A. Double spiral structures of warm and cold streamers appeared from late April to mid-May, which may have an influence on the occurrence of the spring bloom in and around the ring. In this episodic event, the warm streamer can maintain the available potential energy of the ring and the strength of upwelling around the ring. The cold streamer provided water with a high Chl-a concentration to the surface layer of the ring. In order to understand the temporal and spatial variability of Chl-a distribution in the ring, the behavior of the warm and cold streamers needs to be taken into consideration.     

旋涡星系颜色梯度的研究进展

旋涡星系的颜色梯度反映了其星族构成沿径向的分布,包含了星系恒星形成历史的信息.因此,对旋涡星系颜色梯度的研究有助于理解星系的形成和演化过程.大部分旋涡星系存在负的颜色梯度,其主要原因是旋涡星系存在星族梯度.颜色梯度与星系的面亮度之间存在内禀的相关,表明质量面密度在星系的形成和演化过程中具有重要作用.