scholarly journals Census and classification of low-surface-brightness structures in nearby early-type galaxies from the MATLAS survey

2020 ◽  
Vol 498 (2) ◽  
pp. 2138-2166
Author(s):  
Michal Bílek ◽  
Pierre-Alain Duc ◽  
Jean-Charles Cuillandre ◽  
Stephen Gwyn ◽  
Michele Cappellari ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The morphology of galaxies gives essential constraints on the models of galaxy evolution. The morphology of the features in the low-surface-brightness (LSB) regions of galaxies has not been fully explored yet because of observational difficulties. Here we present the results of our visual inspections of very deep images of a large volume-limited sample of 177 nearby massive early-type galaxies from the MATLAS survey. The images reach a surface-brightness limit of 28.5–29 mag arcsec−2 in the g′ band. Using a dedicated navigation tool and questionnaire, we looked for structures at the outskirts of the galaxies such as tidal shells, streams, tails, disturbed outer isophotes, or peripheral star-forming discs, and simultaneously noted the presence of contaminating sources, such as Galactic cirrus. We also inspected internal substructures such as bars and dust lanes. We discuss the reliability of this visual classification investigating the variety of answers made by the participants. We present the incidence of these structures and the trends of the incidence with the mass of the host galaxy and the density of its environment. We find an incidence of shells, stream, and tails of approximately 15 per cent, about the same for each category. For galaxies with masses over 1011 M⊙, the incidence of shells and streams increases about 1.7 times. We also note a strong unexpected anticorrelation of the incidence of Galactic cirrus with the environment density of the target galaxy. Correlations with other properties of the galaxies, and comparisons to model predictions, will be presented in future papers.

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (S311) ◽  
pp. 120-125
Author(s):  
Pierre-Alain Duc

AbstractVarious programs aimed at exploring the still largely unknown low surface brightness Universe with deep imaging optical surveys have recently started. They open a new window for studies of galaxy evolution, pushing the technique of galactic archeology outside the Local Group (LG). The method, based on the detection and analysis of the diffuse light emitted by collisional debris or extended stellar halos (rather than on stellar counts as done for LG systems), faces however a number of technical difficulties, like the contamination of the images by reflection halos and Galactic cirrus. I review here the on-going efforts to address them and highlight the preliminary promising results obtained with a systematic survey with MegaCam on the CFHT of nearby massive early-type galaxies done as part of the ATLAS3D, NGVS and MATLAS collaborations.


2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S235) ◽  
pp. 327-327
Author(s):  
P. Papaderos

The star-formation history and chemodynamical evolution of Blue Compact Dwarf (BCD) galaxies are central issues in dwarf galaxy research. In spite of being old in their vast majority, BCDs resemble in many aspects unevolved low-mass galaxies in the early universe. They are gas-rich (Hi mass fraction of typically > 30%) and metal-deficient (7.1 $\la$ 12+log(O/H) $\la$ 8.3) extragalactic systems, undergoing intense star-forming (SF) activity within an underlying low-surface brightness (LSB) host galaxy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 488 (2) ◽  
pp. 2143-2157 ◽  
Author(s):  
D J Prole ◽  
R F J van der Burg ◽  
M Hilker ◽  
J I Davies

Abstract While we have learnt much about ultradiffuse galaxies (UDGs) in groups and clusters, relatively little is known about them in less dense environments. More isolated UDGs are important for our understanding of UDG formation scenarios because they form via secular mechanisms, allowing us to determine the relative importance of environmentally driven formation in groups and clusters. We have used the public Kilo-Degree Survey together with the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program to constrain the abundance and properties of UDGs in the field, targeting sources with low surface brightness (24.0 ≤ $\bar{\mu }_{\mathrm{ e},r}$ ≤ 26.5) and large apparent sizes (3.0 arcsec ≤ $\bar{r}_{\mathrm{ e},r}$ ≤ 8.0 arcsec). Accounting for several sources of interlopers in our selection based on canonical scaling relations, and using an empirical UDG model based on measurements from the literature, we show that a scenario in which cluster-like red-sequence UDGs occupy a significant number of field galaxies is unlikely, with most field UDGs being significantly bluer and showing signs of localized star formation. An immediate conclusion is that UDGs are much more efficiently quenched in high-density environments. We estimate an upper limit on the total field abundance of UDGs of 8 ± 3 × 10−3 cMpc−3 within our selection range. We also compare the total field abundance of UDGs to a measurement of the abundance of H i-rich UDGs from the literature, suggesting that they occupy at least one-fifth of the overall UDG population. The mass formation efficiency of UDGs implied by this upper limit is similar to what is measured in groups and clusters.


2020 ◽  
Vol 634 ◽  
pp. A108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarrvesh S. Sridhar ◽  
Raffaella Morganti ◽  
Kristina Nyland ◽  
Bradley S. Frank ◽  
Jeremy Harwood ◽  
...  

Low-power radio sources dominate the radio sky. They tend to be small in size and dominated by their cores, but the origin of their properties and the evolution of their radio plasma are not well constrained. Interestingly, there is mounting evidence that low-power radio sources can significantly affect their surrounding gaseous medium and may therefore be more relevant for galaxy evolution than previously thought. In this paper, we present low radio frequency observations obtained with LOFAR at 147 MHz of the radio source hosted by NGC 3998. This is a rare example of a low-power source that is extremely dominated by its core, but that has two large-scale lobes of low surface brightness. We combine the new 147 MHz image with available 1400 MHz data to derive the spectral index over the source. Despite the low surface brightness, reminiscent of remnant structures, the lobes show an optically thin synchrotron spectral index (∼0.6). We interpret this as being due to rapid decollimation of the jets close to the core, to high turbulence of the plasma flow, and to entrainment of thermal gas. This could be the result of intermittent activity of the central active galactic nucleus, or, more likely, temporary disruption of the jet due to the interaction of the jet with the rich circumnuclear interstellar matter. Both would result in sputtering energy injection from the core, which would keep the lobes fed, albeit at a low rate. We discuss these results in connection with the properties of low-power radio sources in general. Our findings show that amorphous low surface brightness lobes should not be interpreted by default as remnant structures. Large deep surveys (in particular the LOFAR 150 MHz LoTSS and the recently started 1400 MHz Apertif survey) will identify a growing number of objects similar to NGC 3998 where these ideas can be further tested.


2004 ◽  
Vol 217 ◽  
pp. 418-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenji Bekki ◽  
Warrick J. Couch ◽  
Emma Ryan-Weber ◽  
Rachel Webster

We propose that the giant HI ring recently discovered by HIPASS for S0 galaxy NGC 1533 is formed by unequal-mass merging between gas-rich LSB (low surface brightness: “ghost”) galaxies and HSB disks. The NGC 1533 progenitor HSB spiral is transformed into a barred S0 during merging and the outer HI gas disk of the LSB is transformed into the giant HI ring. We also discuss two different possibilities for the origin of isolated star-forming regions (“ELdot” objects) in the giant gas ring.


2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan C. Keller

AbstractThis study presents a tomographic survey of a subset of the outer halo (10–40 kpc) drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 6. Halo substructure on spatial scales of >3 degrees is revealed as an excess in the local density of sub-giant stars. With an appropriate assumption of a model stellar isochrone it is possible for us to then derive distances to the sub-giant population. We describe three new candidate halo substructures; the 160- and 180-degree over-densities (at distances of 17 and 19 kpc respectively and radii of 1.3 and 1.5 kpc respectively) and an extended feature at 28 kpc that covers at least 162 deg2, the Virgo Equatorial Stream. In addition, we recover the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy (Sgr) leading-arm material and the Virgo Over-Density.The derived distances, together with the number of sub-giant stars associated with each substructure, enables us to derive the integrated luminosity for the features. The tenuous, low surface brightness of the features strongly suggests an origin from the tidal disruption of an accreted galaxy or galaxies. Given the dominance of the tidal debris of Sgr in this region of the sky we investigate if our observations can be accommodated by tidal disruption models for Sgr. The clear discordance between observations and model predictions for known Sgr features means it is difficult to tell unambiguously if the new substructures are related to Sgr or not. Radial velocities in the stellar over-densities will be critical in establishing their origins.


2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S235) ◽  
pp. 234-235
Author(s):  
Premana W. Premadi ◽  
A. Sitti Maryam

This work is a preliminary result of our attempt to examine the use of SFR in the study of galaxy evolution. For this purpose we use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 2 (SDSS DR2) Abazajian et al. (2004) and the SFR Catalogue generated from this data set by Brinchmann et al. (2004) and Kaufmann et al. (2003). Following Kewley et al. (2001) we use the Diagnostic Diagram, log ([OIII]/Hβ) vs log ([NII]/Hα), to separate the star forming galaxies from other emission lines sources such as AGN. Choosing only those with S/N > 3 out of the Brinchmann et al. (2004) catalogue, we arrive at about 200 thousand galaxies as our starting SFR subsample. With 0.05 < z < 0.22 and limit at r = 17.77, the subsample can be used to reconstruct the properties of a volume limited sample of galaxies with M* = 6 1010Modot. We benefit from the fact that Brinchmann et al. (2004) SFR Catalogue has already been aperture-corrected using the likelihood distribution P(SFR/Li/colour) scheme. For the environment, we use the data generated by Kaufmann et al. (2003), and arrive at about 40 thousand target galaxies. In this work the environment is characterised by the number (N=0-30) of neighbouring galaxies within a projected radius of 2 Mpc and velocity di.erence of 500km/s from each target galaxy, and the magnitude limit is 14.5 < r < 17.77.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S295) ◽  
pp. 61-61
Author(s):  
V. Strazzullo

AbstractAt a cosmic time when galaxy clusters start showing evidence of a still active galaxy population, the X-ray luminous, massive cluster XMMU J2235-2557 at z=1.39, already hosts massive, quiescent, early-type galaxies on a tight red sequence dominating the cluster core. XMMU J2235-2557 is among the most massive of the very distant clusters, which may explain the evolved status of the system itself, and of its host galaxy populations. It remains a unique laboratory to observe environment-biased galaxy evolution already 9 billion years ago.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (S321) ◽  
pp. 257-259
Author(s):  
Alexandre Y. K. Bouquin ◽  
Armando Gil de Paz

AbstractWe present our new, spatially-resolved, photometry in FUV and NUV from images obtained by GALEX, and IRAC1 (3.6 μm) photometry obtained by the Spitzer Space Telescope. We analyzed the surface brightness profiles μFUV, μNUV, μ[3.6], as well as the radial evolution of the (FUV-NUV), (FUV - [3.6]), and (NUV - [3.6]) colors in the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structures in Galaxies (S4G) galaxies (d < 40 Mpc) sample. We defined the GALEX Blue Sequence (GBS) and GALEX Red Sequence (GBR) from the (FUV - NUV) versus (NUV - [3.6]) color-color diagram, populated by late-type star forming galaxies and quiescent early-type galaxies respectively. While most disk becomes radially bluer for GBS galaxies, and stay constant for GRS galaxies, a large fraction ( > 50%) of intermediary GALEX Green Valley (GGV) galaxies’ outer disks are becoming redder. An outside-in quenching mechanism such as environmentally-related mechanisms such as starvation or ram-pressure-stripping could explain our results.


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