Home     Getting Started     To Survive in the Universe    
Inhabited Sky
    News@Sky     Astro Photo     The Collection     Forum     Blog New!     FAQ     Press     Login  

NGC 2476


Contents

Images

Upload your image

DSS Images   Other Images


Related articles

Redshift-Distance Survey of Early-Type Galaxies: Spectroscopic Data
We present central velocity dispersions and Mg2 line indicesfor an all-sky sample of ~1178 elliptical and S0 galaxies, of which 984had no previous measures. This sample contains the largest set ofhomogeneous spectroscopic data for a uniform sample of ellipticalgalaxies in the nearby universe. These galaxies were observed as part ofthe ENEAR project, designed to study the peculiar motions and internalproperties of the local early-type galaxies. Using 523 repeatedobservations of 317 galaxies obtained during different runs, the dataare brought to a common zero point. These multiple observations, takenduring the many runs and different instrumental setups employed for thisproject, are used to derive statistical corrections to the data and arefound to be relatively small, typically <~5% of the velocitydispersion and 0.01 mag in the Mg2 line strength. Typicalerrors are about 8% in velocity dispersion and 0.01 mag inMg2, in good agreement with values published elsewhere.

Redshift-Distance Survey of Early-Type Galaxies: Circular-Aperture Photometry
We 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 galaxies
We 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

Nearby Optical Galaxies: Selection of the Sample and Identification of Groups
In 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.

Arcsecond Positions of UGC Galaxies
We 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.

Kinematical data on early-type galaxies. IV.
We present kinematical data for a sample of 25 galaxies. Rotation curvesand velocity-dispersion profiles are determined for 16 objects, whilethe central velocity dispersions are given for the whole sample. This isour fourth paper in a series devoted to the presentation of kinematicaldata on elliptical and S0 galaxies, derived from long-slit absorptionspectroscopy. Based on observations collected at the Observatoire deHaute-Provence.

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.

A catalogue of spatially resolved kinematics of galaxies: Bibliography
We present a catalogue of galaxies for which spatially resolved data ontheir internal kinematics have been published; there is no a priorirestriction regarding their morphological type. The catalogue lists thereferences to the articles where the data are published, as well as acoded description of these data: observed emission or absorption lines,velocity or velocity dispersion, radial profile or 2D field, positionangle. Tables 1, 2, and 3 are proposed in electronic form only, and areavailable from the CDS, via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (to130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html

Large-Scale Structure at Low Galactic Latitude
We have extended the CfA Redshift Survey to low galactic latitudes toinvestigate the relation between the Great Wall in the North GalacticCap and the Perseus-Pisces chain in the South Galactic Cap. We presentredshifts for 2020 galaxies in the Catalogue of Galaxies and of Clustersof Galaxies (Zwicky et al. 1961-68, CGCG) in the following regions: 4^h^<= α <= 8^h^, 17^h^ <= α <= 20^h^, 0^deg^ <=δ <= 45^deg^. In these regions, the redshift catalogue includes1664 galaxies with B(0) <= 15.5 (of which 820 are newly measured) andis 97% complete. We also include redshifts for an additional 356galaxies in these regions with B(O) > 15.5; of these, 148 werepreviously unmeasured. The CGCG samples the galaxy distribution down tob_II_ = 10^deg^. In this paper, we discuss the acquisition and reductionof the spectra, and we examine the qualitative features of the redshiftdistribution. The Great Wall and the Perseus-Pisces chain are not simplyconnected across the Zone of Avoidance. These structures, which at firstappear to be coherent on scales of ~100 h^-1^ Mpc or more, actually formthe boundaries of neighboring voids of considerably smaller scale,approximately 50h^-1^ Mpc. The structures delineated by ouroptically-selected sample are qualitatively similar to those detected bythe far-infrared-selected IRAS 1.2 Jansky Survey (Fisher et al. 1995).Although the IRAS survey probes more deeply into the Zone of Avoidance,our optically-selected survey provides better sampling of structures atb_II_ >= 10^deg^.

Photoelectric UBV Photometry of 179 Bright Galaxies
This paper presents photoelectric UBV multiaperture photometry of 179bright galaxies that was used to compute total magnitudes and colorindices published in the Third Reference Catalog of Bright Galaxies(RC3). The observations were made at the McDonald Observatory from 1983December to 1986 September with an Amperex 56-DVP photometer attached tothe 0.76 and 0.91 m telescopes. The observations can also be used tocalibrate CCD images.

An image database. II. Catalogue between δ=-30deg and δ=70deg.
A preliminary list of 68.040 galaxies was built from extraction of35.841 digitized images of the Palomar Sky Survey (Paper I). For eachgalaxy, the basic parameters are obtained: coordinates, diameter, axisratio, total magnitude, position angle. On this preliminary list, weapply severe selection rules to get a catalog of 28.000 galaxies, wellidentified and well documented. For each parameter, a comparison is madewith standard measurements. The accuracy of the raw photometricparameters is quite good despite of the simplicity of the method.Without any local correction, the standard error on the total magnitudeis about 0.5 magnitude up to a total magnitude of B_T_=17. Significantsecondary effects are detected concerning the magnitudes: distance toplate center effect and air-mass effect.

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.

A Catalog of Stellar Velocity Dispersions. II. 1994 Update
A 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.

Integrated photoelectric magnitudes and color indices of bright galaxies in the Johnson UBV system
The photoelectric total magnitudes and color indices published in theThird Reference Catalogue of Bright Galaxies (RC3) are based on ananalysis of approximately equals 26,000 B, 25,000 B-V, and 17,000 U-Bmultiaperture measurements available up to mid 1987 from nearly 350sources. This paper provides the full details of the analysis andestimates of internal and external errors in the parameters. Thederivation of the parameters is based on techniques described by theVaucouleurs & Corwin (1977) whereby photoelectric multiaperture dataare fitted by mean Hubble-type-dependent curves which describe theintegral of the B-band flux and the typical B-V and U-B integrated colorgradients. A sophisticated analysis of the residuals of thesemeasurements from the curves was made to allow for the random andsystematic errors that effect such data. The result is a homogeneous setof total magnitudes BTA total colors(B-V)T and (U-B)T, and effective colors(B-V)e and (U-B)e for more than 3000 brightgalaxies in RC3.

A search for secondary nuclei in shell galaxies
We present the results of our search for secondary nuclei in shellgalaxies. The most recent accretion model simulations of shell galaxyformation, by Salmon, Quinn, & Warren, have included the effects ofdynamical friction and tidal stripping on a captured secondary for thefirst time. In their simulation, the secondary galaxy is disruptedslowly throughout the shell forming process, and should therefore bevisible as a secondary nucleus for a significant fraction of the shelllifetime. We have obtained Charge Couple Device (CCD) images of 29 shellgalaxies, often in two colors, in order to search for secondary nuclei.Identification of possible secondary nuclei was carried out bysubtracting a smooth model of the primary elliptical and carefullyexamining the residual image. We found six galaxies with possiblesecondary nuclei that could be responsible for the shells within theframework of the Salmon, Quinn, & Warren (sinking satellite)accretion model. Foreground contamination by stars or galaxies impliesthat this detection is an upper limit. Based on our resutls, we estimatean upper limit of 200 Myr for the typical lifetime for a secondarynucleus and discuss the frequency of secondary nuclei expected from theweak interaction model and the major merger model.

Equilibrium and rotational support of elliptical galaxies
In order to study the contribution of the rotation to the total kineticenergy of elliptical galaxies, we have obtained new rotation curves andvelocity dispersion profiles for 34 galaxies selected for their largeresiduals with respect to the Fundamental Plane. For a sample of 113galaxies from our new observations and the available literature, we haveanalyzed these residuals as a function of the rotational support,quantified by the Vmax/sigma0 parameter. Thecontribution of the rotation to the global equilibrium status ofelliptical galaxies is detected and is found to be in agreement with asimple prediction based on the virial theorem for isotropic rotators.The addition of a rotation term to the Fundamental-Plane relationextends its validity to fast rotators, with even a marginal decrease inits apparent thickness.

General study of group membership. II - Determination of nearby groups
We 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.

Shells and isophotal distortions in elliptical galaxies
An improved shell-finding algorithm is described and images of eightpreviously unknown shell galaxies visible from the Northern Hemisphereare presented. The data were obtained in the R-band using the 1-mJacobus Kapteyn Telescope, located in the Canary Islands. Most of thegalaxies were selected on the basis of independent evidence for a mergeror interaction, such as extensive dust or kinematically decoupled cores.The detection of shells and other fine structures is achieved bysubtracting a smooth elliptical model of the underlying galaxy and theninspecting the residual map. The isophotal distortions resulting fromthese structures are quantified using the fourth cosine term of theisophotal intensity. In particular, it is suggested that shells may beresponsible for boxy isophotes in some cases.

Far infrared radiation from elliptical galaxies
Infrared radiation for 35 nearby elliptical galaxies is analyzed and IRfluxes at 12, 25, 60, and 100 microns are investigated. It is shown thatthe radiation at a wavelength of 60-100 microns belongs to cold dustwith a color temperature of 25-45 K located in the nuclei of galaxieswith a diameter of several kpc. The radiation at a wavelength of 12-25microns with a color temperature of 150-260 K may belong either to thedust concentrated near compact sources in the galactic center (a starcluster or a black hole) or to the dust in the envelopes of low-masscold giants.

Redshifts of galaxies in the winter plane
New redshifts for 57 bright galaxies and 98 fainter galaxies in thewinter galactic plane are presented. This list completes the redshiftsfor all galaxies in the merged Zwicky-Nilson catalog between 4 h and 8 hright ascension, above declination 0 deg, and with m(pg) of 14.5 orless. Three other bright objects in the Zwicky-Nilson catalog suspectedto be galaxies are found to be a planetary nebula, an open galactic starcluster, and a reflection nebula.

A search for features in early-type galaxies
Using data from the CCD surface-photometry survey of Djorgovski (1985),images of 159 galaxies were examined for the presence of dust lanes,incipient stellar disks, bars, shells, and other features that signifydeviations from elliptical symmetry. The sample contained 116 ellipticalgalaxies, 33 SO galaxies and 10 intermediate galaxies. It was found thatforty-two of the ellipticals either definitely or very likely containdust, either in patches or in well-defined lanes or rings. Five of theE/SO galaxies also show possible or definite dust, as do 15 of the SOs.Three of the elliptical galaxies definitely contain stellar disks, withseveral more possible candidates. The presence of these features inalmost half of the elliptical galaxies studied demonstrates thatelliptical galaxies are not the featureless objects they were oncethought to be. Moreover, the finding of weak stellar disks in some ofthem further blurs the distinction between ellipticals and SOs.

Fundamental properties of elliptical galaxies
The global properties of elliptical galaxies, such as luminosity,radius, projected velocity dispersion, projected luminosity, etc., forma two-dimensional family. This 'fundamental plane' of ellipticalgalaxies can be defined in observable terms by the velocity dispersionand mean surface brightness. Its thickness is given by the presentmeasurement error bars, and there are no significant indications ofnonlinearity or higher dimensionality. This is indicative of a strongregularity in the process of galaxy formation. The equations of theplane can be used as new, substantially improved distance indicators forelliptical galaxies. However, all morphological parameters whichdescribe the shape of the light distribution (ellipticity, elippticitygradient, isophotal twist rate, slope of the surface brightness profile)and reflect dynamical anisotropies of stars are completely independentof this fundamental plane. Thus, the elliptical galaxies are actually a'2 + N' parameter family. The M/L ratios correlate only with thevelocity dispersions and show a small intrinsic scatter, perhaps onlyabout 30 percent, in a luminosity range spanning some four orders ofmagnitude; this suggests a constant fraction of the dark mattercontribution in elliptical galaxies.

A catalog of stellar velocity dispersions. I - Compilation and standard galaxies
A catalog of central stellar velocity dispersion measurements ispresented, current through June 1984. The catalog includes 1096measurements of 725 galaxies. A set of 51 standard galaxies is definedwhich consists of galaxies with at least three reliable, concordantmeasurements. It is suggested that future studies observed some of thesestandard galaxies in the course of their observations so that differentstudies can be normalized to the same system. Previous studies arecompared with the derived standards to determine relative accuracies andto compute scale factors where necessary.

Catalogue of central velocity dispersions of galaxies
A total of 880 measurements of velocity dispersions for 546 galaxieshave been compiled. These data have been used to look for biasesintroduced by the observational techniques and reduction procedures. Twomain effects have been corrected for, due to the reference and the slitwidth. A catalog of homogeneous data has been compiled, where the rawdata are corrected for these effects.

Mass-to-light ratio of elliptical galaxies
Two virial formulas, which take into account the observed flattening,are established for oblate ellipticals obeying the r to the 1/4th powerlaw and used to derive the mean mass to light ratios in their centralpart. One of them, which requires the knowledge of only one kinematicalparameter, the central (stellar) velocity dispersion, is applied to 197ellipticals. The other one, which uses in addition the maximum stellarrotation velocity, is shown to be less sensitive to the unknown trueflattenings and to possible velocity anisotropies. It is applied to 30ellipticals. Both methods give a mean blue mass to luminosity ratio ofabout 13, without any clear correlation with the absolute luminosity ofthe galaxy.

Submit a new article


Related links

  • - No Links Found -
Submit a new link


Member of following groups:


Observation and Astrometry data

Constellation:Lynx
Right ascension:07h56m45.20s
Declination:+39°55'40.0"
Aparent dimensions:1.175′ × 0.676′

Catalogs and designations:
Proper Names   (Edit)
NGC 2000.0NGC 2476
HYPERLEDA-IPGC 22260

→ Request more catalogs and designations from VizieR