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Circumnuclear Structure and Black Hole Fueling: Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS Imaging of 250 Active and Normal Galaxies
Why are the nuclei of some galaxies more active than others? If mostgalaxies harbor a central massive black hole, the main difference isprobably in how well it is fueled by its surroundings. We investigatethe hypothesis that such a difference can be seen in the detailedcircumnuclear morphologies of galaxies using several quantitativelydefined features, including bars, isophotal twists, boxy and diskyisophotes, and strong nonaxisymmetric features in unsharp-masked images.These diagnostics are applied to 250 high-resolution images of galaxycenters obtained in the near-infrared with NICMOS on the Hubble SpaceTelescope. To guard against the influence of possible biases andselection effects, we have carefully matched samples of Seyfert 1,Seyfert 2, LINER, starburst, and normal galaxies in their basicproperties, taking particular care to ensure that each was observed witha similar average scale (10-15 pc pixel-1). Severalmorphological differences among our five different spectroscopicclassifications emerge from the analysis. The H II/starburst galaxiesshow the strongest deviations from smooth elliptical isophotes, whilethe normal galaxies and LINERs have the least disturbed morphology. TheSeyfert 2s have significantly more twisted isophotes than any othercategory, and the early-type Seyfert 2s are significantly more disturbedthan the early-type Seyfert 1s. The morphological differences betweenSeyfert 1s and Seyfert 2s suggest that more is at work than simply theviewing angle of the central engine. They may correspond to differentevolutionary stages.
| Bar Galaxies and Their Environments
The prints of the Palomar Sky Survey, luminosity classifications, andradial velocities were used to assign all northern Shapley-Ames galaxiesto either (1) field, (2) group, or (3) cluster environments. Thisinformation for 930 galaxies shows no evidence for a dependence of barfrequency on galaxy environment. This suggests that the formation of abar in a disk galaxy is mainly determined by the properties of theparent galaxy, rather than by the characteristics of its environment.
| The NICMOS Snapshot Survey of Nearby Galaxies
We present ``snapshot'' observations with the Near-Infrared Camera andMulti-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope(HST) of 94 nearby galaxies from the Revised Shapley Ames Catalog.Images with 0.2" resolution were obtained in two filters, a broadbandcontinuum filter (F160W, roughly equivalent to the H band) and anarrowband filter centered on the Paα line (F187N or F190N,depending on the galaxy redshift) with the 51^''x51^'' field of view ofthe NICMOS camera 3. A first-order continuum subtraction is performed,and the resulting line maps and integrated Paα line fluxes arepresented. A statistical analysis indicates that the average Paαsurface brightness in the central regions is highest in early-type(Sa-Sb) spirals.
| Extensive Spiral Structure and Corotation Resonance
Spiral density wave theories demand that grand-design spiral structurebe bounded, at most, between the inner and outer Lindblad resonances ofthe spiral pattern. The corotation resonance lies between the outer andthe inner Lindblad resonances. The locations of the resonances are atradii whose ratios to each other are rather independent of the shape ofthe rotation curve. The measured ratio of outer to inner extent ofspiral structure for a given spiral galaxy can be compared to thestandard ratio of corotation to inner Lindblad resonance radius. In thecase that the measured ratio far exceeds the standard ratio, it islikely that the corotation resonance is within the bright optical disk.Studying such galaxies can teach us how the action of resonances sculptsthe appearance of spiral disks. This paper reports observations of 140disk galaxies, leading to resonance ratio tests for 109 qualified spiralgalaxies. It lists candidates that have a good chance of having thecorotation resonance radius within the bright optical disk.
| Bulge-Disk Decomposition of 659 Spiral and Lenticular Galaxy Brightness Profiles
We present one of the largest homogeneous sets of spiral and lenticulargalaxy brightness profile decompositions completed to date. The 659galaxies in our sample have been fitted with a de Vaucouleurs law forthe bulge component and an inner-truncated exponential for the diskcomponent. Of the 659 galaxies in the sample, 620 were successfullyfitted with the chosen fitting functions. The fits are generally welldefined, with more than 90% having rms deviations from the observedprofile of less than 0.35 mag. We find no correlations of fittingquality, as measured by these rms residuals, with either morphologicaltype or inclination. Similarly, the estimated errors of the fittedcoefficients show no significant trends with type or inclination. Thesedecompositions form a useful basis for the study of the lightdistributions of spiral and lenticular galaxies. The object base issufficiently large that well-defined samples of galaxies can be selectedfrom it.
| The Southern Sky Redshift Survey
We report redshifts, magnitudes, and morphological classifications for5369 galaxies with m_B <= 15.5 and for 57 galaxies fainter than thislimit, in two regions covering a total of 1.70 sr in the southerncelestial hemisphere. The galaxy catalog is drawn primarily from thelist of nonstellar objects identified in the Hubble Space TelescopeGuide Star Catalog (GSC). The galaxies have positions accurate to ~1"and magnitudes with an rms scatter of ~0.3 mag. We compute magnitudes(m_SSRS2) from the relation between instrumental GSC magnitudes and thephotometry by Lauberts & Valentijn. From a comparison with CCDphotometry, we find that our system is homogeneous across the sky andcorresponds to magnitudes measured at the isophotal level ~26 magarcsec^-2. The precision of the radial velocities is ~40 km s^-1, andthe redshift survey is more than 99% complete to the m_SSRS2 = 15.5 maglimit. This sample is in the direction opposite that of the CfA2; incombination the two surveys provide an important database for studies ofthe properties of galaxies and their large-scale distribution in thenearby universe. Based on observations obtained at Cerro TololoInter-American Observatory, National Optical Astronomy Observatories,operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy,Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation;Complejo Astronomico El Leoncito, operated under agreement between theConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas de laRepública Argentina and the National Universities of La Plata,Córdoba, and San Juan; the European Southern Observatory, LaSilla, Chile, partially under the bilateral ESO-ObservatórioNacional agreement; Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory;Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica, Brazil; and the SouthAfrican Astronomical Observatory.
| Total magnitude, radius, colour indices, colour gradients and photometric type of galaxies
We 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.
| Dynamics of Orbits and Local Gas Stability in a Lopsided Galaxy
We study the dynamics of particles in closed orbits in a galactic diskperturbed by a lopsided halo potential. The underlying potential in alarge fraction of spiral galaxies is now believed to have this form. Theorbits are solved via first-order epicyclic theory, and the azimuthalvariation in the effective surface density is obtained for anexponential disk. The results are obtained first for a flat rotationcurve and then for a general power-law rotation curve. These are shownto be valid for both stars and gas in the inner (optical) region of agalaxy because both respond to the same lopsided potential and havecomparable disk scale lengths. The results are applied to externallopsided galaxies. An orbit is shown to be elongated along the minimumin the lopsided potential. The net rotational velocity is highest at theminimum radial extent of the orbit. The perturbation parameter for thelopsided potential epsilon lop, is obtained as a function of theobserved fractional amplitude of the m = 1 azimuthal Fourier componentof the surface brightness and the radius. The ellipticity of isophotesis shown to be higher by at least a factor of 4 compared to epsilon lop.This explains why the phenomenon of lopsidedness is so commonlydetected. It also means that even visually strongly lopsided galaxieshave a fairly axisymmetric potential, with a small epsilon lop < 0.1.The effective disk surface density is highest along the maximum in thelopsided potential, and there is an underdense region in the oppositedirection. The maximum increase in the surface density is high~35%--50%, for strongly lopsided galaxies. We obtain the local stabilityparameter Qlop in a lopsided galaxy and show that its values for gas aresignificantly lowered compared to the axisymmetric case in the overdenseregion. This is argued to result in an enhanced formation of massivestars which then result in H II regions. Thus we can naturally explainthe observed azimuthal asymmetry in the distribution of molecularhydrogen gas and H II regions in the lopsided galaxies such as M101.
| Lopsided Spiral Galaxies and a Limit on the Galaxy Accretion Rate
We present a measurement of lopsidedness for the stellar disks of 60field spiral galaxies in terms of the azimuthal m = 1 Fourier amplitude,A1, of the stellar light. We confirm the previous result (Rix &Zaritsky) that ~30% of field spiral galaxies in a magnitude-limitedsample exhibit significant lopsidedness ( >= 0.2) atlarge radii (R > 1.5 disk scalelengths). We conjecture that thislopsidedness is caused by tidal interactions and calculate an upperlimit on the accretion rate of small galaxies. We exploit thecorrelation between lopsidedness and photometric measures of recent starformation (Zaritsky) to obtain two independent estimates of the lifetimeof these m = 1 distortions. First, we show that lopsided galaxies havean excess of blue luminosity relative to that of symmetric galaxies withthe same H I linewidth, which we attribute to a recent star formationepisode that was triggered by an interaction between the galaxy and acompanion. We use stellar population models (Bruzual & Charlot) toestimate the time since that interaction. Second, we use the N-bodysimulation of an infalling satellite by Walker, Mihos, & Hernquistto estimate how fast tidally induced m = 1 distortions are erasedthrough phase mixing. Both approaches indicate that the observations areconsistent with a hypothesized tidal interaction that occurred about 1Gyr ago for galaxies that are lopsided at the 20% level. By combiningthis lifetime estimate for lopsidedness, the observed frequency of suchdistortions, and a correction to the survey volume that depends on theincrease in luminosity during an interaction, we derive an upper limiton the current companion accretion rate of field spiral galaxies (forcompanion masses ~10% parent galaxy mass) that lies in the range0.07--0.25 Gyr-1. The principal uncertainty in this limit arises fromambiguities in the interpretation of the correlation betweenlopsidedness and MB.
| Scaleheights of 486 southern spiral galaxies and some statistical correlation
Based on Peng's method (1988), we obtain scaleheights of 486 southernspiral galaxies, the images of which are taken from the Digitized SkySurvey at Xinglong Station of Beijing Astronomical Observatory. Thefitted spiral arms of 70 galaxies are compared with their images to gettheir optimum inclinations. The scaleheights of other 416 ones arelisted in Table A1 in Appendix. After compiling and analyzing the data,we find some statistical correlations. The most interesting results arethat a flatter galaxy is bluer and looks brighter, and galaxies becomeflatter along the Hubble sequence Sab -- Scd. Based on photographic dataof the National Geographic Society -- Palomar Observatory Sky Survey(NGS-POSS) obtained using the Oschin Telescope Palomar Mountain. TheNGS-POSS was funded by a grant from the National Geographic Society tothe California Institute of Technology. The plates were processed intothe present compressed digital form with their permission. The DigitizedSky Survey was produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute underUS Government grant NAG W-2166. Table A1 is available in electronic fromonly, via anonymous ftp 130.79.128.5 orhttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Uncovering Spiral Structure in Flocculent Galaxies
We present K' (2.1 mu m) observations of four nearby flocculent spirals,which clearly show low-level spiral structure and suggest thatkiloparsec-scale spiral structure is more prevalent in flocculentspirals than previously supposed. In particular, the prototypicalflocculent spiral NGC 5055 is shown to have regular, two-arm spiralstructure to a radius of 4.0 kpc in the near-infrared, with anarm-interarm contrast of 1.3. The spiral structure in all four galaxiesis weaker than that in grand design galaxies. Taken in unbarred galaxieswith no large, nearby companions, these data are consistent with themodal theory of spiral density waves, which maintains that density wavesare intrinsic to the disk. As an alternative, mechanisms for drivingspiral structure with nonaxisymmetric perturbers are also discussed.These observations highlight the importance of near-infrared imaging forexploring the range of physical environments in which large-scaledynamical processes, such as density waves, are important.
| Nonaxisymmetric Structures in the Stellar Disks of Galaxies
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1995ApJ...447...82R&db_key=AST
| A Preliminary Classification Scheme for the Central Regions of Late-Type Galaxies
The large-scale prints in The Carnegie Atlas of Galaxies have been usedto formulate a classification scheme for the central regions oflate-type galaxies. Systems that exhibit small bright central bulges ordisks (type CB) are found to be of earlier Hubble type and of higherluminosity than galaxies that do not contain nuclei (type NN). Galaxiescontaining nuclear bars, or exhibiting central regions that are resolvedinto individual stars and knots, and galaxies with semistellar nuclei,are seen to have characteristics that are intermediate between those oftypes CB and NN. The presence or absence of a nucleus appears to be auseful criterion for distinguishing between spiral galaxies andmagellanic irregulars.
| Corrections and additions to the third reference catalogue of bright galaxies
List of corrections and additions to the Third Reference Catalogue ofBright Galaxies (RC3) are given. The corrected version of the catalogue(RC3.9b), dated April 1994, is currently available through the nationaldata centers.
| CCD calibration of the magnitude scale for the SSRS2 sample: The equatorial region
In this paper we continue our investigation on the isophotal nature,accuracy, and uniformity of the magnitude system adopted in the SouthernSky Redshift Survey extension (SSRS2). Extending our earlier work, weexamine galaxies in the equatorial region, primarily in the declinationrange delta greater than or equal to -17.5 deg and less than or equal to0 deg, over a large range of right ascension, covering the southern andnorthern Galactic caps. For this purpose, we have obtained CCD isophotalmagnitudes in the B and R bands for 265 galaxies of differentmorphological types. Using the larger sample we confirm our earlierclaim that the mSSRS2 magnitudes are very nearly themagnitude measured within the isophote muB = 26 mag/sqarcsec, with a dispersion of about 0.30 mag. The relative zero-pointoffset between our mSSRS2 magnitudes and the CCD photometryis -0.02 mag from all data we have obtained. However, we detect avariation of the zero-point across different regions of the sky of +/-0.10 mag for regions at large angular separations. We also estimate thatthe zero-point offset between the mSSRS2 and Zwicky systemsis relatively small (approximately 0.10 mag), which should allow us tocombine the data from the SSRS2 and the CfA2 Redshift Survey.
| The extended 12 micron galaxy sample
We have selected an all-sky (absolute value of b greater than or equalto 25 deg) 12 micron flux-limited sample of 893 galaxies from the IRASFaint Source Catalog, Version 2 (FSC-2). We have obtained accurate totalfluxes in the IRAS wavebands by using the ADDSCAN procedure for allobjects with FSC-2 12 micron fluxes greater than 0.15 Jy and increasingflux densities from 12 to 60 microns, and defined the sample by imposinga survey limit of 0.22 Jy on the total 12 micron flux. Its completenessis verified, by means of the classical log N - log S andV/Vmax tests, down to 0.30 Jy, below which we have measuredthe incompleteness down to the survey limit, using the log N - log Splot, for our statistical analysis. We have obtained redshifts (mostlyfrom catalogs) for virtually all (98.4%) the galaxies in the sample.Using existing catalogs of active galaxies, we defined a subsample of118 objects consisting of 53 Seyfert 1s and quasars, 63 Seyfert 2s, andtwo blazars (approximately 13% of the full sample), which is the largestunbiased sample of Seyfert galaxies ever assembled. Since the 12 micronflux has been shown to be about one-fifth of the bolometric flux forSeyfert galaxies and quasars, the subsample of Seyferts (includingquasars and blazars) is complete not only to 0.30 Jy at 12 microns butalso with respect to a bolometric flux limit of approximately 2.0 x10-10 ergs/s/sq cm. The average value of V/Vmaxfor the full sample, corrected for incompleteness at low fluxes, is 0.51+/- 0.04, expected for a complete sample of uniformly distributedgalaxies, while the value for the Seyfert galaxy subsample is 0.46 +/-0.10. We have derived 12 microns and far-infrared luminosity functionsfor the AGNs, as well as for the entire sample. We extracted from oursample a complete subsample of 235 galaxies flux-limited (8.3 Jy) at 60microns. The 60 micron luminosity function computed for this subsampleis in satisfactory agreement with the ones derived from the brightgalaxy sample (BGS) and the deep high-galactic latitude sample, bothselected at 60 microns.
| Satellites of spiral galaxies
We present a survey of satellites around a homogeneous set of late-typespirals with luminosity similar to that of the Milky Way. On average, wefind fewer than 1.5 satellites per primary, but we argue that we cantreat the survey as an ensemble and so derive the properties of the haloof a 'typical' isolated spiral. The projected density profile of theensemble falls off approximately as 1/r. Within 50 kpc the azimuthaldistribution of satellites shows some evidence for the 'Holmbergeffect', an excess near the minor axis of the primary; however, atlarger projected distances, the distribution appears isotropic. There isa weak but significant correlation between the size of a satellite andits distance from its primary, as expected if satellites are tidallytruncated. Neither Hubble type nor spectral characteristics correlatewith apparent separation. The ensemble of satellites appears to berotating at about 30 km/s in the same direction as the galactic disk.Satellites on prograde orbits tend to be brighter than those onretrograde orbits. The typical velocity difference between a satelliteand its primary shows no clear dependence either on apparent separation,or on the rotation speed of the primary. Thus our survey demonstratesthat isolated spiral galaxies have massive halos that extend to manyoptical radii.
| The morphological catalogue of galaxies equatorial survey
We present 865 redshifts of galaxies located in the equatorial stripdelta between -17.5 deg and -2.5 deg in the right ascension rangebetween 20 h and 5 h. Redshifts have been obtained for the completesample of all 833 galaxies in the Morphological Catalog of Galaxies withmagnitudes brighter than m = 14.5 (corresponding approximately tom(Zwicky) = 15.0). This sample also includes three galaxies from othersources with more reliable magnitudes, satisfying this limit, and 29fainter galaxies, usually companions of the galaxies in the magnitudelimited sample. Our maps of a very large volume of nearby spacedemonstrate a variety of coherent large scale structures which includelarge voids, 20-50/h Mpc in diameter and large walls at least 70/h Mpcacross.
| Properties and simulations of interacting spiral galaxies with transient 'ocular' shapes
Computer simulations of interacting galaxies show a transient oval-apexstructure resembling an eye, which sometimes leads to the formation of apermanent central bar. A dimensionless tidal strength parametereffectively distinguishes between the different possible outcomes.Several examples of ocular structure in real galaxies have been found.The rotation curves of ocular galaxies are predicted to have largevelocity irregularities that correspond to distinctive spiral arm anddouble-parallel arm features. The amplitude of the velocity features maybe useful in determining the strength of the tidal interactions.
| The Hubble relation - Differences between galaxy types SB and SC
It is shown that the Sb galaxies have apparent magnitudes which varyalmost exactly as if their redshifts were a measure of the distance atwhich they are observed, while the Sc do not exhibit a linear Hubblerelation. An attempt is made to determine whether the Sc discordancefrom the Hubble law is caused by Malmquist bias operating in thisfainter luminosity class of galaxies or there are inherent fundamentalpeculiarities. To this purpose the search is undertaken for other kindsof galaxies physically associated which these deviating Sc's. It isshown that luminosity criterion (Tully-Fisher) gives much smallerdistances for these galaxies than their redshifts do. The interaction ofspecific high redshift ScI's with nearby galaxies is presented as anindependent proof that ScI's are generally small, low luminositygalaxies.
| The Malmquist bias and the value of H0 from the Tully-Fisher relation
A large sample (n = 395) of spiral (Sab to Sd type) galaxies havingcorrected apparent magnitudes B-zero-sub-T and 21-cm line data (HI linewidths and radial velocities) is used to investigate in a new way theinfluence of the Malmquist bias on the determination of theextragalactic distance scale and the Hubble constant derived from theapplication of the B-band Tully-Fisher relation. This effect is clearlyidentified by using relative kinematic distances derived from aclassical local velocity field model and the concept of normalizedrelative kinematic distance. It results in an unbiased estimate of theHubble constant H0 which appears quite insensitive to the parameters(mean velocity of Virgo and infall velocity of the Local Group towardVirgo) adapted for the local velocity field model. A similar effect isfound from a sample of galaxies (n = 72) which are 'sosies' of 14primary galaxies. It is suggested that the presently derived H0represents the global value of the Hubble constant.
| Morphology of spiral galaxies. I - General properties
Red Palomar Sky Survey plates are scanned to characterize a completesample of 605 spiral galaxies north of declination -33 deg havinginclination angle less than 56 deg and blue diameter 2-15 arcmin. Theselection of the data and the reduction and parameter-extractionprocedures are explained, and the data and the results of statisticalanalysis are presented in tables and graphs. Findings reported include alow frequency of occurrence for small inclination angles (suggestingdistortion of outer structures), similar distributions of central diskbrightness for types Sa-Sc but not for types Sd-Sm (where mean valuesare smaller), fewer late-type galaxies with large exponential-disk scalelengths, no galaxies with both high central brightness and large scalelength (indicating a limit on angular momentum in galaxy formation), anda correlation between mean surface brightness and absolute magnitude forlater-type galaxies but not for types Sa-Scd.
| H I line studies of galaxies. IV - Distance moduli of 468 disk galaxies
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1985A&AS...59...43B&db_key=AST
| The dependence on distance and redshift of the velocity vectors of the sun, the Galaxy, and the Local Group with respect to different extragalactic frames of reference
The solar apex S is confirmed to move steadily from S-prime toS-asterisk, when the mean redshift of the reference frame increases fromsmall to large values, on the basis of a new analysis of the solarmotion and Hubble ratio. Most of the change takes place in the 0-4000km/sec interval. The velocity vectors increase steadily, and thedirections of the apexes drift progressively as the mean distance orredshift of the reference frame increases. The frame of referencedefined by galaxies at z greater than 0.01 is essentially at rest withrespect to background radiation, suggesting that any intrinsic dipolaranisotropy of the background radiation is probably less than about0.0001.
| H I line studies of galaxies. III - Distance moduli of 822 disk galaxies
The distance scale established on the basis of a distance moduli catalog(for 822 galaxies) that was derived from 21-cm line widths via theB-band Tully-Fisher relation is compared with several independent scaleshaving a common zero point, that are based on the indicators forluminosity index, redshift, ring diameters, brightest superassociations,and effective diameters. These are in excellent systematic agreement,and confirm the linearity of the H I scale in the 24-35 modulusinterval, but indicate a small systematic zero point difference of about0.2 mag, which must be added to the H I moduli to place them on the same'short' distance scale defined by the others.
| Inner ring structures in galaxies as distance indicators. III - Distances to 453 spiral and lenticular galaxies
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1983ApJS...51..149B&db_key=AST
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