ABSTRACT
Spectral data cubes of the interacting pair of galaxies NGC 2535 and NGC 2536 (the Arp 82 system) targeting bright emission lines in the visible band, obtained with the imaging Fourier ...transform spectrometer (iFTS) SITELLE attached to the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), are presented. Analysis of H$\alpha $ velocity maps reveals a bar in $\rm NGC\, 2536$. In $\rm NGC\, 2535$, we find strong non-circular motions outside the ocular ring, in the elliptical arc and tidal tails of $\rm NGC\, 2535$, and a misalignment between the kinematic and photometric position angles. We detect 155 H ii region complexes in the interacting pair of galaxies and determine oxygen abundances for 66 of them using different calibrators. We find, regardless of the indicator used, that the oxygen abundance distribution in $\rm NGC\, 2536$ is shallow, whereas in $\rm NGC\, 2535$, it is best fitted by two slopes, the break occurring beyond the ocular ring. The inner slope is comparable to the one observed in isolated normal star-forming galaxies, but the outer slope is shallow. We present a numerical simulation of the interaction that reproduces the observed tidal features, kinematics, and metallicity distribution, to investigate the effect of the interaction on the galaxies. The model indicates that the galaxies have undergone a close encounter, strongly prograde for the primary, and are halfway in their course to a second close encounter.
Extreme emission line galaxies (EELGs) are a notable galaxy genus, ultimately being regarded as local prototypes of early galaxies at the cosmic noon. Robust characterisation of their stellar ...content, however, is hindered by the exceptionally high nebular emission present in their optical spectroscopic data. This study is dedicated into recovering the stellar properties of a sample of 414 EELGs as observed by the SDSS Survey. Such is achieved by means of the spectral synthesis code F
ADO
, which self-consistently considers the stellar and nebular emission in an optical spectrum. Additionally, a comparative analysis was carried on, by further processing the EELGs sample with the purely stellar spectral synthesis code S
TARLIGHT
, and by extending the analysis to a sample of 697 normal star-forming galaxies, expected to be less affected by nebular contribution. We find that, for both galaxy samples, stellar mass and mean age estimates by S
TARLIGHT
are systematically biased towards higher values, and that an adequate determination of the physical and evolutionary properties of EELGs via spectral synthesis is only possible when nebular continuum emission is taken into account. Moreover, the differences between the two population synthesis codes can be ascribed to the degree of star-formation activity through the specific star-formation rate and the sum of the flux of the most prominent emission lines. As expected, on the basis of the theoretical framework, our results emphasise the importance of considering the nebular emission while performing spectral synthesis, even for galaxies hosting typical levels of star-formation activity.
ABSTRACT
Using the PMAS Integral Field Unit on the Calar Alto 3.5 m telescope, we observed the southern component (Markarian 59) of the ‘cometary’ starburst galaxy NGC 4861. Mrk 59 is centred on a ...giant nebula and concentration of stars 1 kpc in diameter. Strong $\rm H\,\alpha$ emission points to a star-formation rate (SFR) at least 0.47 $\rm M_{\odot }\, yr^{-1}$. Mrk 59 has a very high O iii $\rm \lambda 5007/H\,\beta$ ratio, reaching 7.35 in the central nebula, with a second peak at a star-forming hotspot further north. Fast outflows are not detected but nebular motion and galaxy rotation produce relative velocities up to 40 km $\rm s^{-1}$. Spectral analysis of different regions with ‘Fitting Analysis using Differential evolution Optimization’ (FADO) finds that the stars in the central and ‘spur’ nebulae are very young, $\rm \le 125~Myr$ with a large $\rm \lt 10~Myr$ contribution. Older stars ($\rm \sim 1~Gyr$) make up the northern disk component, while the other regions show mixtures of 1 Gyr age with very young stars. This and the high specific SFR $\rm \sim 3.5~Gyr^{-1}$ imply a bimodal star formation history, with Mrk 59 formed in ongoing starbursts fuelled by a huge gas inflow, turning the galaxy into an asymmetric ‘green pea’ or blue compact dwarf. We map the He ii λ4686 emission, and identify a broad component from the central nebula, consistent with the emission of ∼300 Wolf–Rayet stars. About a third of the He ii λ4686 flux is a narrow line emitted from a more extended area covering the central and spur nebulae, and may have a different origin.
While studies of gas-phase metallicity gradients in disc galaxies are common, very little has been done towards the acquisition of stellar abundance gradients in the same regions. We present here a ...comparative study of the stellar metallicity and age distributions in a sample of 62 nearly face-on, spiral galaxies with and without bars, using data from the CALIFA survey. We measure the slopes of the gradients and study their relation with other properties of the galaxies. We find that the mean stellar age and metallicity gradients in the disc are shallow and negative. Furthermore, when normalized to the effective radius of the disc, the slope of the stellar population gradients does not correlate with the mass or with the morphological type of the galaxies. In contrast to this, the values of both age and metallicity at ~2.5 scale lengths correlate with the central velocity dispersion in a similar manner to the central values of the bulges, although bulges show, on average, older ages and higher metallicities than the discs. One of the goals of the present paper is to test the theoretical prediction that non-linear coupling between the bar and the spiral arms is an efficient mechanism for producing radial migrations across significant distances within discs. The process of radial migration should flatten the stellar metallicity gradient with time and, therefore, we would expect flatter stellar metallicity gradients in barred galaxies. However, we do not find any difference in the metallicity or age gradients between galaxies with and without bars. We discuss possible scenarios that can lead to this lack of difference.
We use type Ia supernova (SN Ia) data obtained by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey (SDSS-II SNS) in combination with the publicly available SDSS DR16 fiber spectroscopy of supernova ...(SN) host galaxies to correlate SN Ia light-curve parameters and
Hubble
residuals with several host galaxy properties. Fixed-aperture fiber spectroscopy suffers from aperture effects: the fraction of the galaxy covered by the fiber varies depending on its projected size on the sky, and thus measured properties are not representative of the whole galaxy. The advent of integral field spectroscopy has provided a way to correct the missing light, by studying how these galaxy parameters change with the aperture size. Here we study how the standard SN host galaxy relations change once global host galaxy parameters are corrected for aperture effects. We recover previous trends on SN
Hubble
residuals with host galaxy properties, but we find that discarding objects with poor fiber coverage instead of correcting for aperture loss introduces biases into the sample that affect SN host galaxy relations. The net effect of applying the commonly used
g
-band fraction criterion is that intrinsically faint SNe Ia in high-mass galaxies are discarded, thus artificially increasing the height of the mass step by 0.02 mag and its significance. Current and next-generation fixed-aperture fiber-spectroscopy surveys, such as OzDES, DESI, or TiDES with 4MOST, that aim to study SN and galaxy correlations must consider, and correct for, these effects.
Once in a blue stream Martínez-Delgado, David; Roca-Fàbrega, Santi; Gil de Paz, Armando ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
04/2024, Letnik:
684
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Aims. In this work we study the striking case of a narrow blue stream with a possible globular cluster-like progenitor around the NGC 7241 galaxy and its foreground dwarf companion. We want to figure ...out if the stream was generated by tidal interaction with NGC 7241 or if it first interacted with the foreground dwarf companion and later both fell together toward NGC 7241. Methods. We used four sets of observations, including a follow-up spectroscopic study of this stream based on data taken with the MEGARA instrument at the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias using the integral field spectroscopy mode, the Mount Lemmon 0.80 m telescope, the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo , the DESI Imaging Legacy surveys, and GALEX archival data. We also used high-resolution zoomed-in cosmological simulations. Results. Our data suggest that the compact object we detected in the stream is a foreground Milky Way halo star. Near this compact object we detect emission lines overlapping a less compact, bluer, and fainter blob of the stream that is clearly visible in both ultraviolet and optical deep images. From its heliocentric systemic radial velocity derived from the O III λ 5007 Å lines ( V syst = 1548.58 ± 1.80 km s −1 ) and new UV and optical broadband photometry, we conclude that this overdensity could be the actual core of the stream, with an absolute magnitude of M g ∼ −10 and a g − r = 0.08 ± 0.11, consistent with a remnant of a low-mass dwarf satellite undergoing a current episode of star formation. From the width of the stream and assuming a circular orbit, we calculate that the progenitor mass can be typical of a dwarf galaxy, but it could also be substantially lower if the stream is on a very radial orbit or if it was created by tidal interaction with the companion dwarf instead of with NGC 7241. These estimates also suggest that this is one of the lowest mass streams detected to date beyond the Local Group. Finally, we find that blue stellar streams containing star formation regions are commonly predicted by high-resolution cosmological simulations of galaxies lighter than the Milky Way. This scenario is consistent with the processes explaining the bursty star formation history of some dwarf satellites, which are followed by a gas depletion and a fast quenching once they enter within the virial radius of their host galaxies for the first time. Thus, it is likely that the stream’s progenitor is undergoing a star formation burst comparable to those that have shaped the star formation history of several Local Group dwarfs in the last few gigayears.
Disky bulges in spiral galaxies are commonly thought to form out of disk materials (mainly) via bar-driven secular processes. They are structurally and dynamically distinct from "classical bulges," ...which are built in violent merger events. We use high-resolution GTC/MEGARA integral-field unit spectroscopic observations of the Sa galaxy NGC 7025, obtained during the MEGARA commissioning run, together with detailed 1D and 2D decompositions of this galaxy's Sloan Digital Sky Survey i-band data to investigate the formation of its disky (bulge) component, which makes up ∼30% of the total galaxy light. With a Sérsic index , a half-light radius , and stellar mass , this bulge dominates the galaxy light distribution in the inner (∼4.7 kpc). Measuring the spins (λ) and ellipticities (ϵ) enclosed within nine different circular apertures with radii , we show that the bulge, which exhibits a spin track of outwardly rising λ and ϵ, is a fast rotator for all the apertures considered. Our findings suggest that this inner disky component is a pseudo-bulge, consistent with the stellar and dust spiral patterns seen in the galaxy down to the innermost regions but in contrast to the classical bulge interpretation favored in the past. We propose that a secular process involving the tightly wound stellar spiral arms of NGC 7025 may be driving gas and stars out of the disk into the inner regions of the galaxy, building up the massive pseudo-bulge.
In this work, we present a detailed analysis of sub-aperture interferogram stitching software to test circular and elliptical clear apertures with diameters and long axes up to 272 and 180 mm, ...respectively, from the Multi-Espectrógrafo en GTC de Alta Resolución para Astronomía (MEGARA). MEGARA is a new spectrograph for the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). It offers a resolution between 6000 and 20000 via the use of volume phase holographic gratings. It has an integral field unit and a set of robots for multi-object spectroscopy at the telescope focal plane. The output end of the fibers forms the spectrograph pseudo-slit. The fixed geometry of the collimator and camera configuration requires prisms in addition to the flat windows of the volume phase holographic gratings. There are 73 optical elements of large aperture and high precision manufactured in Mexico at the Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE) and the Centro de Investigaciones en Óptica (CIO). The principle of stitching interferometry is to divide the surface being tested into overlapping small sections, which allows an easier analysis (Kim & Wyant 1981). This capability is ideal for non-contact tests for unique and large optics as required by astronomical instruments. We show that the results obtained with our sub-aperture stitching algorithm were consistent with other methods that analyze the entire aperture. We used this method to analyze the 24 MEGARA prisms that could not be tested otherwise. The instrument has been successfully commissioned at GTC in all the spectral configurations. The fulfillment of the irregularity specifications was one of the necessary conditions to comply with the spectral requirements.
AKARI/Infrared Camera (IRC) Point Source Catalog provides a large amount of flux data at S9W (9
$\ \mu$
m) and L18W (18
$\ \mu$
m) bands. With the goal of constructing Star-Formation Rate (SFR) ...calculations using IRC data, we analyzed an IR selected GALEX-SDSS-2MASS-AKARI(IRC/Far-Infrared Surveyor) sample of 153 nearby galaxies. The far-infrared fluxes were obtained from AKARI diffuse maps to correct an underestimation for extended sources raised by the point-spread function photometry. SFRs of these galaxies were derived by the spectral energy distribution fitting program CIGALE. In spite of complicated features contained in these bands, both the S9W and L18W emission correlate with the SFR of galaxies. The SFR calibrations using S9W and L18W are presented for the first time. These calibrations agree well with previous works based on Spitzer data within the scatters, and should be applicable to dust-rich galaxies.
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