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# NGC 5481

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 The Effects of Interactions on the Structure and Morphology of Elliptical/Lenticular Galaxies in PairsWe present a structural and photometric analysis of 42elliptical/lenticular galaxies in E/S0 + S pairs observed in the BVRIcolor bands. The aim of the analysis is to empirically determine theeffects of interactions on the galaxies' morphology, structure, andstellar populations as seen from the CAS parameters (light concentrationC, asymmetry A, and clumpiness S). We further compare these values to acontrol sample of 67 mostly isolated noninteracting E/S0 galaxies. Wefind that the paired E/S0 galaxies occupy more scattered loci in CASspace than noninteracting E/S0s and that the structural effects ofinteractions on E/S0s are minor, in contrast to disk galaxies involvedin interactions. This suggests that observational methods forrecognizing interactions, such the CAS methodology of Conselice, wouldnot detect E/S0s involved in interactions (related to early phases ofthe so-called dry mergers), and that the majority of interactinggalaxies identified at high redshift must be gas-dominated systems.However, we find statistical differences in the asymmetry index whencomparing isolated and interacting E/S0s. On average, paired E/S0galaxies have A-values 2.96+/-0.72 times larger than those ofnoninteracting E/S0s. For the subset of presumably strongly interactingE/S0s, A and S can be several times larger than the typical values ofthe isolated E/S0s. We show that the asymmetries are consistent withseveral internal and external morphological distortions. We concludethat the subsample of interacting E/S0s should be dense, gas-poorgalaxies in systems spanning a wide range of interaction stages, withtypical merging timescales >~0.1-0.5 Gyr. We use the observedphenomenology of this subsample to predict the approximate loci of drypremergers in the CAS parameter space. The structure of galactic disks. Studying late-type spiral galaxies using SDSSUsing imaging data from the SDSS survey, we present the g' and r' radialstellar light distribution of a complete sample of ~90 face-on tointermediate inclined, nearby, late-type (Sb-Sdm) spiral galaxies. Thesurface brightness profiles are reliable (1 σ uncertainty lessthan 0.2 mag) down to μ27 mag/''. Only ~10% of all galaxies havea normal/standard purely exponential disk down to our noise limit. Thesurface brightness distribution of the rest of the galaxies is betterdescribed as a broken exponential. About 60% of the galaxies have abreak in the exponential profile between  1.5-4.5 times thescalelength followed by a downbending, steeper outer region. Another~30% shows also a clear break between  4.0-6.0 times thescalelength but followed by an upbending, shallower outer region. A fewgalaxies have even a more complex surface brightness distribution. Theshape of the profiles correlates with Hubble type. Downbending breaksare more frequent in later Hubble types while the fraction of upbendingbreaks rises towards earlier types. No clear relation is found betweenthe environment, as characterised by the number of neighbours, and theshape of the profiles of the galaxies. Properties of isolated disk galaxiesWe present a new sample of northern isolated galaxies, which are definedby the physical criterion that they were not affected by other galaxiesin their evolution during the last few Gyr. To find them we used thelogarithmic ratio, f, between inner and tidal forces acting upon thecandidate galaxy by a possible perturber. The analysis of thedistribution of the f-values for the galaxies in the Coma cluster leadus to adopt the criterion f ≤ -4.5 for isolated galaxies. Thecandidates were chosen from the CfA catalog of galaxies within thevolume defined by cz ≤5000 km s-1, galactic latitudehigher than 40o and declination ≥-2.5o. Theselection of the sample, based on redshift values (when available),magnitudes and sizes of the candidate galaxies and possible perturberspresent in the same field is discussed. The final list of selectedisolated galaxies includes 203 objects from the initial 1706. The listcontains only truly isolated galaxies in the sense defined, but it is byno means complete, since all the galaxies with possible companions underthe f-criterion but with unknown redshift were discarded. We alsoselected a sample of perturbed galaxies comprised of all the diskgalaxies from the initial list with companions (with known redshift)satisfying f ≥ -2 and \Delta(cz) ≤500 km s-1; a totalof 130 objects. The statistical comparison of both samples showssignificant differences in morphology, sizes, masses, luminosities andcolor indices. Confirming previous results, we found that late spiral,Sc-type galaxies are, in particular, more frequent among isolatedgalaxies, whereas Lenticular galaxies are more abundant among perturbedgalaxies. Isolated systems appear to be smaller, less luminous and bluerthan interacting objects. We also found that bars are twice as frequentamong perturbed galaxies compared to isolated galaxies, in particularfor early Spirals and Lenticulars. The perturbed galaxies have higherLFIR/LB and Mmol/LB ratios,but the atomic gas content is similar for the two samples. The analysisof the luminosity-size and mass-luminosity relations shows similartrends for both families, the main difference being the almost totalabsence of big, bright and massive galaxies among the family of isolatedsystems, together with the almost total absence of small, faint and lowmass galaxies among the perturbed systems. All these aspects indicatethat the evolution induced by interactions with neighbors would proceedfrom late, small, faint and low mass Spirals to earlier, bigger, moreluminous and more massive spiral and lenticular galaxies, producing atthe same time a larger fraction of barred galaxies but preserving thesame relations between global parameters. The properties we found forour sample of isolated galaxies appear similar to those of high redshiftgalaxies, suggesting that the present-day isolated galaxies could bequietly evolved, unused building blocks surviving in low densityenvironments.Tables \ref{t1} and \ref{t2} are only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org Infrared Observations of Galaxies in the Local Universe. II. 391 Calibrated Images with Photometric and Structural MeasurementsThis paper presents empirical results from a deep imaging survey ofgalaxies in the local universe at the J and Ks wavelengths.Three hundred ninety-one images have been obtained and calibrated usingthe same camera and filter set with the Steward Observatory 1.6 m KuiperTelescope on Mount Bigelow and the 2.3 m Bok Telescope on Kitt Peak. Thelimiting magnitude is typically 22 mag arcsec-1 at J and 21mag arcsec-1 at Ks. The central surfacebrightness, apparent magnitudes, sizes, scale lengths, and inclinationsare tabulated from measurements made using these data. The purpose ofthis paper is to provide basic near-infrared data on a variety of galaxytypes. Star Formation Histories of Early-Type Galaxies. I. Higher Order Balmer Lines as Age IndicatorsWe have obtained blue integrated spectra of 175 nearby early-typegalaxies, covering a wide range in galaxy velocity dispersion andemphasizing those with σ<100 km s-1. Galaxies havebeen observed both in the Virgo Cluster and in lower densityenvironments. The main goals are the evaluation of higher order Balmerlines as age indicators and differences in stellar populations as afunction of mass, environment, and morphology. In this first paper, ouremphasis is on presenting the methods used to characterize the behaviorof the Balmer lines through evolutionary population synthesis models.Lower σ galaxies exhibit a substantially greater intrinsicscatter, in a variety of line-strength indicators, than do higherσ galaxies, with the large intrinsic scatter setting in below aσ of 100 km s-1. Moreover, a greater contrast inscatter is present in the Balmer lines than in the lines of metalfeatures. Evolutionary synthesis modeling of the observed spectralindexes indicates that the strong Balmer lines found primarily among thelow-σ galaxies are caused by young age, rather than by lowmetallicity. Thus we find a trend between the population age and thecentral velocity dispersion, such that low-σ galaxies have youngerluminosity-weighted mean ages. We have repeated this analysis usingseveral different Balmer lines and find consistent results from onespectral indicator to another. Redshift-Distance Survey of Early-Type Galaxies: Circular-Aperture PhotometryWe present R-band CCD photometry for 1332 early-type galaxies, observedas part of the ENEAR survey of peculiar motions using early-typegalaxies in the nearby universe. Circular apertures are used to tracethe surface brightness profiles, which are then fitted by atwo-component bulge-disk model. From the fits, we obtain the structuralparameters required to estimate galaxy distances using theDn-σ and fundamental plane relations. We find thatabout 12% of the galaxies are well represented by a pure r1/4law, while 87% are best fitted by a two-component model. There are 356repeated observations of 257 galaxies obtained during different runsthat are used to derive statistical corrections and bring the data to acommon system. We also use these repeated observations to estimate ourinternal errors. The accuracy of our measurements are tested by thecomparison of 354 galaxies in common with other authors. Typical errorsin our measurements are 0.011 dex for logDn, 0.064 dex forlogre, 0.086 mag arcsec-2 for<μe>, and 0.09 for mRC,comparable to those estimated by other authors. The photometric datareported here represent one of the largest high-quality and uniformall-sky samples currently available for early-type galaxies in thenearby universe, especially suitable for peculiar motion studies.Based on observations at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO),National Optical Astronomy Observatory, which is operated by theAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., undercooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF);European Southern Observatory (ESO); Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory(FLWO); and the MDM Observatory on Kitt Peak. A new catalogue of ISM content of normal galaxiesWe have compiled a catalogue of the gas content for a sample of 1916galaxies, considered to be a fair representation of normality''. Thedefinition of a normal'' galaxy adopted in this work implies that wehave purposely excluded from the catalogue galaxies having distortedmorphology (such as interaction bridges, tails or lopsidedness) and/orany signature of peculiar kinematics (such as polar rings,counterrotating disks or other decoupled components). In contrast, wehave included systems hosting active galactic nuclei (AGN) in thecatalogue. This catalogue revises previous compendia on the ISM contentof galaxies published by \citet{bregman} and \citet{casoli}, andcompiles data available in the literature from several small samples ofgalaxies. Masses for warm dust, atomic and molecular gas, as well asX-ray luminosities have been converted to a uniform distance scale takenfrom the Catalogue of Principal Galaxies (PGC). We have used twodifferent normalization factors to explore the variation of the gascontent along the Hubble sequence: the blue luminosity (LB)and the square of linear diameter (D225). Ourcatalogue significantly improves the statistics of previous referencecatalogues and can be used in future studies to define a template ISMcontent for normal'' galaxies along the Hubble sequence. The cataloguecan be accessed on-line and is also available at the Centre desDonnées Stellaires (CDS).The catalogue is available in electronic form athttp://dipastro.pd.astro.it/galletta/ismcat and at the CDS via anonymousftp to\ cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via\http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/405/5 Study of the X-Ray Background Spectrum and Its Large-Scale Fluctuation with ASCAWe studied the energy spectrum and the large-scale fluctuation of theX-ray background with the ASCA GIS instrument based on the ASCA MediumSensitivity Survey and Large Sky Survey observations. A total of 91fields with Galactic latitude |b| > 10° were selected with a skycoverage of 50 deg2 and 4.2 Ms of exposure. For each field,non-X-ray events were carefully subtracted and sources brighter than ~ 2× 1013 erg cm-2 s-1 (2-10keV)were eliminated. Spectral fits with a single power-law model for theindividual 0.7-10 keV spectra showed a significant excess below ~ 2keV,which could be expressed by an additional thermal model with kT ~= 0.4keV or a steep power-law model with a photon index ofΓsoft ~= 6. The 0.5-2keV intensities of the softthermal component varied significantly from field to field by 1 σ= 52 +4-5%, and showed a maximum toward theGalactic Center. This component is considered to be entirely Galactic.As for the hard power-law component, an average photon index of 91fields was obtained to be Γhard = 1.412 +/- 0.007 +/-0.025 and the average 2-10keV intensity was calculated asFhardX = (6.38 +/- 0.04 +/- 0.64) ×10-8erg cm-2 s-1 sr-1 (1σ statistical and systematic errors). The Galactic component ismarginally detected in the hard band. The 2-10keV intensities show a 1σ deviation of 6.49+0.56-0.61%, whiledeviation due to the reproducibility of the particle background is 3.2%.The observed deviation can be explained by the Poisson noise of thesource count in the f.o.v. (~ 0.5 deg2), even assuming asingle N-logS relation on the whole s ky. Based on the observedfluctuation and the absolute intensity, an acceptable region of theN-logS relation was derived, showing a consistent feature with therecent Chandra and XMM-Newton results. The fluctuation of the spectralindex was also examined; it implied a large amount of hard sources and asubstantial variation in the intrinsic source spectra(Γs ~= 1.1 +/- 1.0). ROSAT-HRI observations of six southern galaxy pairsWe present the detailed analysis of the X-ray data for 6 pairs, isolatedor in poor groups, observed at high resolution with the ROSAT HRI . Inall cases, the stronger X-ray source is associated with the brighterearly-type member and is extended. The extent varies from galactic togroup scale, from 3 (RR 210b) to 182 kpc( RR 22a). The fainter membersare detected only in two pairs, RR 210 and RR 259. Except for one case,no significant substructures have been detected in the X-ray maps,possibly also as a consequence of the poor statistics. The core radii ofthe X-ray surface brightness profiles are in the range 1-3 kpc. Thedistribution of the luminosities of galaxies in pairs encompasses a verywide range of both luminosities and LX / LBratios, in spite of the very small number of objects studied so far. Ourdata provide no evidence that pair membership affects the X-rayproperties of galaxies. Observation are discussed in the context of thepair/group evolution. A Database of Cepheid Distance Moduli and Tip of the Red Giant Branch, Globular Cluster Luminosity Function, Planetary Nebula Luminosity Function, and Surface Brightness Fluctuation Data Useful for Distance DeterminationsWe present a compilation of Cepheid distance moduli and data for foursecondary distance indicators that employ stars in the old stellarpopulations: the planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF), theglobular cluster luminosity function (GCLF), the tip of the red giantbranch (TRGB), and the surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) method. Thedatabase includes all data published as of 1999 July 15. The mainstrength of this compilation resides in the fact that all data are on aconsistent and homogeneous system: all Cepheid distances are derivedusing the same calibration of the period-luminosity relation, thetreatment of errors is consistent for all indicators, and measurementsthat are not considered reliable are excluded. As such, the database isideal for comparing any of the distance indicators considered, or forderiving a Cepheid calibration to any secondary distance indicator, suchas the Tully-Fisher relation, the Type Ia supernovae, or the fundamentalplane for elliptical galaxies. This task has already been undertaken byFerrarese et al., Sakai et al., Kelson et al., and Gibson et al.Specifically, the database includes (1) Cepheid distances, extinctions,and metallicities; (2) reddened apparent λ5007 Å magnitudesof the PNLF cutoff; (3) reddened apparent magnitudes and colors of theturnover of the GCLF (in both the V and B bands); (4) reddened apparentmagnitudes of the TRGB (in the I band) and V-I colors at 0.5 mag fainterthan the TRGB; and (5) reddened apparent surface brightness fluctuationmagnitudes measured in Kron-Cousin I, K', andKshort, and using the F814W filter with the Hubble SpaceTelescope (HST) WFPC2. In addition, for every galaxy in the database wegive reddening estimates from IRAS/DIRBE as well as H I maps, J2000coordinates, Hubble and T-type morphological classification, apparenttotal magnitude in B, and systemic velocity. Nearby Optical Galaxies: Selection of the Sample and Identification of GroupsIn this paper we describe the Nearby Optical Galaxy (NOG) sample, whichis a complete, distance-limited (cz<=6000 km s-1) andmagnitude-limited (B<=14) sample of ~7000 optical galaxies. Thesample covers 2/3 (8.27 sr) of the sky (|b|>20deg) andappears to have a good completeness in redshift (97%). We select thesample on the basis of homogenized corrected total blue magnitudes inorder to minimize systematic effects in galaxy sampling. We identify thegroups in this sample by means of both the hierarchical and thepercolation friends-of-friends'' methods. The resulting catalogs ofloose groups appear to be similar and are among the largest catalogs ofgroups currently available. Most of the NOG galaxies (~60%) are found tobe members of galaxy pairs (~580 pairs for a total of ~15% of objects)or groups with at least three members (~500 groups for a total of ~45%of objects). About 40% of galaxies are left ungrouped (field galaxies).We illustrate the main features of the NOG galaxy distribution. Comparedto previous optical and IRAS galaxy samples, the NOG provides a densersampling of the galaxy distribution in the nearby universe. Given itslarge sky coverage, the identification of groups, and its high-densitysampling, the NOG is suited to the analysis of the galaxy density fieldof the nearby universe, especially on small scales. The Hubble Space Telescope Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale. XXVI. The Calibration of Population II Secondary Distance Indicators and the Value of the Hubble ConstantA Cepheid-based calibration is derived for four distance indicators thatutilize stars in old stellar populations: the tip of the red giantbranch (TRGB), the planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF), theglobular cluster luminosity function (GCLF), and the surface brightnessfluctuation method (SBF). The calibration is largely based on theCepheid distances to 18 spiral galaxies within cz=1500 km s-1obtained as part of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Key Project on theExtragalactic Distance Scale, but relies also on Cepheid distances fromseparate HST and ground-based efforts. The newly derived calibration ofthe SBF method is applied to obtain distances to four Abell clusters inthe velocity range 3800-5000 km s-1. Combined with clustervelocities corrected for a cosmological flow model, these distancesimply a value of the Hubble constant of H0=69+/-4(random)+/-6 (systematic) km s-1 Mpc-1. Thisresult assumes that the Cepheid PL relation is independent of themetallicity of the variable stars; adopting a metallicity correction asin Kennicutt et al. would produce a 5%+/-3% decrease in H0.Finally, the newly derived calibration allows us to investigatesystematics in the Cepheid, PNLF, SBF, GCLF, and TRGB distance scales. Arcsecond Positions of UGC GalaxiesWe present accurate B1950 and J2000 positions for all confirmed galaxiesin the Uppsala General Catalog (UGC). The positions were measuredvisually from Digitized Sky Survey images with rms uncertaintiesσ<=[(1.2")2+(θ/100)2]1/2,where θ is the major-axis diameter. We compared each galaxymeasured with the original UGC description to ensure high reliability.The full position list is available in the electronic version only. Infrared Observations of Galaxies in the Local Universe. I. The Survey and Some Representative ResultsThis paper introduces a continuing survey of galaxies in the localuniverse. Consistent deep images are being acquired for a representativesample of 321 galaxies in the Uppsala General Catalogue down to 21.7 magarcsec-2 at Ks (2.16 mu m) and 22.4 mag arcsec-2 at J (1.25 mu m) usinga NICMOS camera with a 3.'8 x 3.'8 field of view attached to the 61 inch(1.5 m) telescope on Mount Bigelow. We provide some examples of theresults being obtained by employing 64 deep images of a subset of 44galaxies. Bulge-to-disk ratios are tabulated for 30 galaxies. Thebrightness of the central region of 44 galaxies declines approximately 5mag from Hubble type S0 to Sm. An exponential vertical scale height atKs is found to be 500 pc for the disk of UGC 5173. Arm amplitudes offour nearly face-on spiral galaxies are found to range between 11% and88% compared to the interarm region. There is some evidence that the armamplitude is larger at Ks than it is at J. Color gradients are measuredfor 15 galaxies with only one showing a significant nonzero result. Ameasurement of galactic symmetry applied to 64 deep images reveals anaverage asymmetry of 7.6% ( sigma = 4.6%) for these galaxies. Globular Cluster Systems of Early-Type GalaxiesProperties of 53 globular cluster systems are investigated. Strongcorrelations are found between parent galaxy luminosity and both theslope of the radial density profile for clusters and the width of thecluster color (metallicity) distribution. These correlations are in thesense that the most luminous early-type galaxies are embedded in clustersystems that have the shallowest radial gradients and exhibit thebroadest color distributions. The data suggest a scenario in whichluminous early-type galaxies have a more complex evolutionary historythan fainter ones. A problem with the interpretation of the present datais that it is difficult, or impossible, to disentangle the stronglycorrelated effects of high parent galaxy luminosity, presence of a coreor boxy isophotes, and shallow radial cluster density gradients. Groups of galaxies. III. Some empirical characteristics.Not Available Total magnitude, radius, colour indices, colour gradients and photometric type of galaxiesWe present a catalogue of aperture photometry of galaxies, in UBVRI,assembled from three different origins: (i) an update of the catalogueof Buta et al. (1995) (ii) published photometric profiles and (iii)aperture photometry performed on CCD images. We explored different setsof growth curves to fit these data: (i) The Sersic law, (ii) The net ofgrowth curves used for the preparation of the RC3 and (iii) A linearinterpolation between the de Vaucouleurs (r(1/4) ) and exponential laws.Finally we adopted the latter solution. Fitting these growth curves, wederive (1) the total magnitude, (2) the effective radius, (3) the colourindices and (4) gradients and (5) the photometric type of 5169 galaxies.The photometric type is defined to statistically match the revisedmorphologic type and parametrizes the shape of the growth curve. It iscoded from -9, for very concentrated galaxies, to +10, for diffusegalaxies. Based in part on observations collected at the Haute-ProvenceObservatory. Testing the physical reality of binaries and compact groups. Properties of early-type galaxies in groups with diffuse X-ray emissionWe present data on the stellar kinematics of the brightest ellipticalsin HCG 62, HCG 68, NGC 2300 groups. Moreover, we report on ASCA GIS aswell as optical observations of the early-type member of the pair K 416(NGC 5480/5481) similar, in many respects, to the dominant pair in theNGC 2300 group. The kinematics of HCG 62a/b and HCG 68a/b indicate thatthey are not interacting pairs. HCG 62a is instead possibly interactingwith HCG 62c, as suggested by their morphology (see Mendes de Oliveiraand Hickson 1994), In contrast to the results for the NGC 2300/2276group, ASCA observations indicate a significant absence of hot gas inthe K 416 system. Whether the NGC 2300 multiplet is viewed as a loosegroup or as a massive E+S pair, it is clear that similar morphologicalentities do not always show similar X-ray properties. Under thehypothesis that diffuse X-ray emission marks the group potential, weconsider the possibility that K 416 is an unbound encounter. In thisscenario, morphological distortions are indicative of the ongoinginteraction, but are only circumstantially correlated with the physicalreality of a pair/multiplet as a bound system. Based on observationsobtained at 1.93m telescope of Observatoire de Haute Provence operatedby INSU. The Globular Cluster Systems of NGC 1400 and NGC 1407The two brightest elliptical galaxies in the Eridanus A group, NGC 1400and NGC 1407, have been observed in both the Washington T_1 andKron-Cousins I filters to obtain photometry of their globular clustersystems (GCSs). This group of galaxies is of particular interest due toits exceptionally high M/L value, previously estimated at ~ 3000h,making this cluster highly dark-matter-dominated (Gould 1993). NGC1400's radial velocity (549 km/s) is extremely low compared to that ofthe central galaxy of Eridanus A (NGC 1407 with v_sun=1766 km/s) and theother members of the system, suggesting that it is a foreground galaxyprojected by chance onto the cluster. Using the shapes of the globularcluster luminosity functions, however, we derive distances of 17.6 +/-3.1 Mpc to NGC 1407 and 25.4 +/- 7.0 Mpc to NGC 1400. These resultssupport earlier conclusions that NGC 1400 is at the distance of EridanusA and therefore has a large peculiar velocity. Specific frequencies arealso derived for these galaxies, yielding values of S_N=4.0 +/- 1.3 forNGC 1407 and S_N = 5.2 +/- 2.0 for NGC 1400. In this and other respects,these two galaxies have GCSs which are consistent with those observed inother galaxies. The dichotomy of early-type galaxies from their globular cluster systems.Growing evidence for the existence of two classes of ellipticals callsfor a comparison of the properties of their globular cluster systems. Icompiled information on the properties of 53 globular cluster systems offaint and bright early-type galaxies, and investigated them in the lightof the properties of the parent galaxies. The properties of globularcluster systems appear to separate into two classes rather than tofollow continuous relations with their host galaxy properties. The"faint" systems have a low specific frequency (less than about 5), lessthan roughly 1500 globular clusters, a relatively low metallicity([Fe/H]<-1.2), and a steep density profile that follows the galaxylight. These systems appear essentially unperturbed, and are hosted byfaint (about M_V_>-21.5), disky early-type galaxies with unresolvedcores. On the other hand, "bright" globular cluster systems had a higherefficiency in producing globular clusters and have higher specificfrequencies (higher than 5). They have larger number of globularclusters (more than 2000), have flat density profiles (α>-1.7)and their color distributions are often broad, and show several peaks orgradients in many cases. Finally the mean metallicity is higher than in"faint" globular cluster systems. "Bright" globular cluster systems showall signs predicted for globular cluster systems that experienced amerger event, and are associated with bright (about M_V_<-21.5) boxyellipticals with resolved cores. I conclude that every galaxy is likelyto have formed globular clusters during the early proto-galacticcollapse, but "bright" systems were enriched and disturbed during mergerevents. These two classes of globular cluster systems support the ideathat major merger events could be a cause for the dichotomy ofearly-type galaxies. Kinematical Observations of a Sample of Binary GalaxiesNot Available The fundamental plane of early-type galaxies: stellar populations and mass-to-light ratio.We analyse the residuals to the fundamental plane (FP) of ellipticalgalaxies as a function of stellar-population indicators; these are basedon the line-strength parameter Mg_2_ and on UBVRI broad-band colors, andare partly derived from new observations. The effect of the stellarpopulations accounts for approximately half the observed variation ofthe mass-to-light ratio responsible for the FP tilt. The residual tiltcan be explained by the contribution of two additional effects: thedependence of the rotational support, and possibly that of the spatialstructure, on the luminosity. We conclude to a constancy of thedynamical-to-stellar mass ratio. This probably extends to globularclusters as well, but the dominant factor would be here the luminositydependence of the structure rather than that of the stellar population.This result also implies a constancy of the fraction of dark matter overall the scalelength covered by stellar systems. Our compilation ofinternal stellar kinematics of galaxies is appended. The elliptical globular cluster system of NGC 720.We investigated the morphology of the globular cluster system of the E5galaxy NGC 720, and found it to resemble the ellipticity, position angleand surface density profile of the galactic light distribution, and todiffer from the corresponding properties of the X-ray isophotes. Theglobular cluster system of NGC 720 can be considered as poor, with onlya total of 660+/-190 clusters. We derive from the globular clusterluminosity function a distance of (m-M)=31.35+/-0.35mag or18.6+/-2.2Mpc, leading to an absolute visual luminosity ofM_V_=-21.18+/-0.25mag and thus a low specific frequency of S=2.2+/-0.9,expected for an isolated galaxy. Core properties of elliptical galaxies - I. A northern hemisphere sample at high resolutionWe introduce an ongoing survey of core properties of elliptical galaxiesand present the first results from high-resolution direct imaging of asubsample. The data were obtained in the V, R and I bands at the NOTtelescope, with median seeings of 0.69, 0.65 and 0.62 arcsec FWHM,respectively. We determine the `classical' core parameters, and weintroduce a new parameter, pi_c, which is a measure of the deviation ofthe observed brightness profile from an isothermal profile, pi_cmeasures the intensity of a central brightness concentration in excessof an isothermal model, relative to the intensity of the core. Measuringpi_c for the objects presented here, we find that only five of 22objects are consistent with pi_c=0 at the 1sigma level, and that 14 of22 are inconsistent with pi_c at the 3sigma level. We see no evidencefor significant colour difference (in V, R and I) between the centralspike and the rest of the core, except for M87 and NGC 4278. For theremaining galaxies we find that the colours of the spike must matchthose of the core to within 0.4 mag. We conclude that the majority ofall ellipticals seem to have central intensity concentrations in therange 1-10 per cent of the core flux. A Catalog of Stellar Velocity Dispersions. II. 1994 UpdateA catalog of central velocity dispersion measurements is presented,current through 1993 September. The catalog includes 2474 measurementsof 1563 galaxies. A standard set of 86 galaxies is defined, consistingof galaxies with at least three reliable, concordant measurements. It issuggested that future studies observe some of these standard galaxies sothat different studies can be normalized to a consistent system. Allmeasurements are reduced to a normalized system using these standards. The globular cluster system of NGC 5481 and faint background galaxies.Deep, subarcsecond BVR CCD imaging was obtained for one 10arcmin^2^field centered on the elliptical galaxy NGC 5481 (E3). The radialvelocity of NGC 5481 with respect to the rest frame of the Local Groupis 2050km/s. Slight morphological perturbations reflect a weak tidalinteraction with the Sc companion galaxy NGC 5480. The observed excessof objects with a strong concentration towards the centre of the galaxyis mainly due to globular clusters. A cluster of background galaxies isvisible in the same field. The good imaging quality allows many of thebackground galaxies to be resolved. The largest of these galaxies with asize of 2" have mean colours B-V=1.6 and V-R=1.2, so that the redshiftof these galaxies is estimated to z>0.25. A considerable number ofthe fainter and unresolved objects may be due to smaller galaxiesbelonging to the same cluster. According to colour, a contaminatingbackground galaxy population is determined so that the remaining cleanedsample of compact objects with mean colours B-V=0.8, V-R=0.6 is assumedto be the globular cluster system of NGC 5481 with its brightestclusters appearing at R=20.5 (B=21.7). Although the colour selectionremoves many cluster galaxies, there remains a considerable uncertaintyin the subtraction of the contaminating background counts. Thedifferential number counts show a turnover at B=25.2(+/-0.6),V=24.3(+/-0.5) and R=23.7(+/-0.4), with the large errors mainlyreflecting the uncertainty of the background subtraction. The globularcluster luminosity function (GCLF) of Virgo ellipticals at the distanceof NGC 5481 would give a turnover 0.5mag fainter, so that the globularclusters in NGC 5481 appear intrinsically brighter, but observationaluncertainties are of the same order. Assuming a GCLF as in the LocalGroup, a distance modulus of m-M=32.2(+/-0.4) (or d=27Mpc) can beformally determined. Combining this distance estimate with the correctedradial velocity of NGC 5481, the Hubble constant is formally determinedto H_0_=80km/s/Mpc. Counting the globular clusters until the turnoverand assuming the faint end of the globular cluster luminosity functionsymmetric to the bright end, a total globular cluster populationN_total_=180(+/-40) within the observed field is determined, giving acorrected specific frequency S=2.5^+1.5^_-0.9_. The surface density ofglobular clusters gives a slope {DELTA}logN/{DELTA}logr=-1.7, similar asobserved for Virgo ellipticals. At larger galactocentric distances thesurface density appears to have a steeper slope, which, if not caused bya wrong background subtraction in the small observed field, reflects thetidal interaction with NGC 5480. The spatial distribution of supernovae in paired and interacting galaxiesIn order to investigate the location of supernovae (SNe) in paired andinteracting galaxies, the 54 supernovae discovered up to May 1993 in 14Isolated Pairs of Galaxies and the 32 Interacting Systems were taken asa sample and studied. The whole sample of SNe, as well as a subsampleformed of type II, and Ib SNe, whose progenitors are young massivestars, do not appear in any one particluar direction with respect to thecompanion. On paired and interacting galaxies, the radial distributionof type Ib and II SNe peaks more toward the galaxy centers than it doesin isolated galaxies, indicating an enhanced Star Formation Rate (SFR)around the nuclei and in the inner disks. The distribution of SNIaappear similar in both samples, confirming that their progenitors arenot the same as those of SNII and IB. The SN rates are related to galaxyluminosity and, as expected, the discovery of SNe is twice more frequentin the brighter galaxy of the pair than in fainter ones. We did not findany relation between the locations of SNe in parent galaxies, the totalStar Formation activity and the kinematics of paired and interactinggalaxies. A revised catalog of CfA1 galaxy groups in the Virgo/Great Attractor flow fieldA new identification of groups and clusters in the CfA1 Catalog ofHuchra et al. is presented, using a percolation algorithm to identifydensity enhancements. It is shown that in the resulting catalog,contamination by interlopers is significantly reduced. The Schechterluminosity function is redetermined, including the Malmquist bias. General study of group membership. II - Determination of nearby groupsWe present a whole sky catalog of nearby groups of galaxies taken fromthe Lyon-Meudon Extragalactic Database. From the 78,000 objects in thedatabase, we extracted a sample of 6392 galaxies, complete up to thelimiting apparent magnitude B0 = 14.0. Moreover, in order to considersolely the galaxies of the local universe, all the selected galaxieshave a known recession velocity smaller than 5500 km/s. Two methods wereused in group construction: a Huchra-Geller (1982) derived percolationmethod and a Tully (1980) derived hierarchical method. Each method gaveus one catalog. These were then compared and synthesized to obtain asingle catalog containing the most reliable groups. There are 485 groupsof a least three members in the final catalog. Radio-continuum sources in nearby and bright E/S0 galaxies - Active nuclei versus star formationResults of a sensitive VLA survey of nearby E/S0 galaxies are presented.The 204 galaxies surveyed, plus 12 additional galaxies with existing VLAimages, comprise a volume- and optical magnitude-limited sample. Thediscussion focuses on the relation between radio powers and opticalluminosities, whether the radio emission is driven by an active nucleusor by recent star formation, and what galaxian properties might enhancenuclear activity in an elliptical galaxy. It is suggested that the 67ellipticals in the sample should be targets of sensitive searches forHI, optical emission-line gas, and X-ray emitting gas.
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