Abstract
We investigate the fraction of close pairs and morphologically identified mergers on and above the star-forming main sequence (MS) at 0.2 ≤ z ≤2.0. The novelty of our work lies in the use of ...a non-parametric morphological classification performed on resolved stellar mass maps, reducing the contamination by non-interacting, high-redshift clumpy galaxies. We find that the merger fraction rapidly rises to ≥70 per cent above the MS, implying that – already at z ≳ 1 – starburst (SB) events (ΔMS ≥ 0.6) are almost always associated with a major merger (1:1 to 1:6 mass ratio). The majority of interacting galaxies in the SB region are morphologically disturbed, late-stage mergers. Pair fractions show little dependence on MS offset and pairs are more prevalent than late-stage mergers only in the lower half of the MS. In our sample, major mergers on the MS occur with a roughly equal frequency of ∼5–10 per cent at all masses ≳ 1010 M⊙. The MS major merger fraction roughly doubles between z = 0.2 and 2, with morphological mergers driving the overall increase at z ≳ 1. The differential redshift evolution of interacting pairs and morphologically classified mergers on the MS can be reconciled by evolving observability time-scales for both pairs and morphological disturbances. The observed variation of the late-stage merger fraction with ΔMS follows the perturbative 2-Star Formation Mode model, where any MS galaxy can experience a continuum of different star formation rate enhancements. This points to an SB–merger connection not only for extreme events, but also more moderate bursts which merely scatter galaxies upward within the MS, rather than fully elevating them above it.
Due to their large distances, high-redshift galaxies are observed at a very low spatial resolution. In order to disentangle the evolution of galaxy kinematics from low-resolution effects, we have ...used Fabry–Pérot 3D Hα data cubes of 153 nearby isolated galaxies selected from the Gassendi Hα survey of SPirals (GHASP) to simulate data cubes of galaxies at redshift z= 1.7 using a pixel size of 0.125 arcsec and a 0.5 arcsec seeing. We have derived Hα flux, velocity and velocity dispersion maps. From these data, we show that the inner velocity gradient is lowered and is responsible for a peak in the velocity dispersion map. This signature in the velocity dispersion map can be used to make a kinematical classification, but misses 30 per cent of the regular rotating discs in our sample. Toy models of rotating discs have been built to recover the kinematical parameters and the rotation curves from low-resolution data. The poor resolution makes the kinematical inclination uncertain and the position of galaxy centre difficult to recover. The position angle of the major axis is retrieved with an accuracy higher than 5° for 70 per cent of the sample. Toy models also enable us to retrieve statistically the maximum velocity and the mean velocity dispersion of galaxies with a satisfying accuracy. This validates the use of the Tully–Fisher relation for high-redshift galaxies, but the loss of resolution induces a lower slope of the relation despite the beam smearing corrections. We conclude that the main kinematic parameters are better constrained for galaxies with an optical radius at least as large as three times the seeing. The simulated data have been compared to actual high-redshift galaxy data observed with VLT/SINFONI, Keck/OSIRIS and VLT/GIRAFFE in the redshift range 3 > z > 0.4, allowing us to follow galaxy evolution from 11 to 4 Gyr. For rotation-dominated galaxies, we find that the use of the velocity dispersion central peak as a signature of rotating discs may misclassify slow and solid body rotators. This is the case for ∼30 per cent of our sample. We show that the projected local data cannot reproduce the high velocity dispersion observed in high-redshift galaxies except when no beam smearing correction is applied. This unambiguously means that, unlike local evolved galaxies, there exists at high redshift at least a population of disc galaxies for which a large fraction of the dynamical support is due to random motions. We should nevertheless ensure that these features are not due to important selection biases before concluding that the formation of an unstable and transient gaseous disc is a general galaxy formation process.
We have used Spitzer images of a sample of 68 barred spiral galaxies in the local universe to make systematic measurements of bar length and bar strength. We combine these with precise determinations ...of the corotation radii associated with the bars, taken from our previous study, which used the phase change from radial inflow to radial outflow of gas at corotation, based on high-resolution two-dimensional velocity fields in H taken with a Fabry-Pérot spectrometer. After presenting the histograms of the derived bar parameters, we study their dependence on the galaxy morphological type and on the total stellar mass of the host galaxy, and then produce a set of parametric plots. These include the bar pattern speed versus bar length, the pattern speed normalized with the characteristic pattern speed of the outer disk versus the bar strength, and the normalized pattern speed versus , the ratio of corotation radius to bar length. To provide guidelines for our interpretation, we used recently published simulations, including disk and dark matter halo components. Our most striking conclusion is that bars with values of < 1.4, previously considered dynamically fast rotators, can be among the slowest rotators both in absolute terms and when their pattern speeds are normalized. The simulations confirm that this is because as the bars are braked, they can grow longer more quickly than the outward drift of the corotation radius. We conclude that dark matter halos have indeed slowed down the rotation of bars on Gyr timescales.
ABSTRACT We carry out an advanced morpho-kinematic analysis of the Planetary Nebula (PN) NGC 2818, whose complex morphology is described by a basic bipolar component, filamentary structures and a ...knotty central region. We performed an upgrated 3D Morpho-kinematic (MK) model by employing the shape software, combining for the first time in PNe optical 2D spatially resolved echelle spectra and Fabry–Perot data cubes. The best-fitting 3D model of NGC 2818 successfully reconstructs the main morphology, considering one bipolar component, radial filamentary structures, and an equatorial component as the geometrical locus of the group of cometary knots. The model shows that the equatorial component has the lower expansion velocity of the system at 70 ± 20 km s−1. The velocity of the bipolar component is 120 ± 20 km s−1, while all the filamentary structures were found to expand at higher velocities of 180 ± 20 km s−1. Moreover, Fabry–Perot data revealed for the first time a north-eastern filament expanding at a mean velocity of 80 ± 20 km s−1, while its equivalent counterpart in the south-western region was confirmed by a new detected substructure in the echelle data. A new detected knotty structure at velocity −40 ± 20 km s−1 is also reported, as expelled material from the fragmented eastern lobe of the nebula. We interpret the overall structure of NGC 2818 as the result of the evolution of a binary system that underwent the common envelope phase, in conjunction with the ejections of a magnetized jet, misaligned with respect to the symmetry axis of the bipolar/elliptical shell.
In Lambda-CDM models, galaxies are thought to grow both through continuous cold gas accretion coming from the cosmic web and episodic merger events. The relative importance of these different ...mechanisms at different cosmic epochs is nevertheless not yet understood well. We aim to address questions related to galaxy mass assembly through major and minor wet merging processes in the redshift range 1 < zeta < 2, an epoch that corresponds to the peak of cosmic star formation history. A significant fraction of Milky Way-like galaxies are thought to have undergone an unstable clumpy phase at this early stage. We focus on the behavior of the young clumpy disks when galaxies are undergoing gas-rich galaxy mergers. The star formation history of isolated disks shows a stochastic star formation rate, which proceeds from the complex behavior of the giant clumps. The mass-size relation and its rate of evolution in the redshift range 1 < zeta < 2 matches observations, suggesting that the inside-out growth mechanisms of the stellar disk do not necessarily require cold accretion.
Abstract
We present the mass models of 31 spiral and irregular nearby galaxies obtained using hybrid rotation curves (RCs) combining high-resolution GHASP Fabry–Perot H α RCs and extended WHISP H i ...ones together with 3.4 $\mu$m WISE photometry. The aim is to compare the dark matter (DM) halo properties within the optical radius using only H α RCs with the effect of including and excluding the mass contribution of the neutral gas component, and when using H i or hybrid RCs. Pseudo-isothermal (ISO) core and Navarro–Frenk–White (NFW) cuspy DM halo profiles are used with various fiducial fitting procedures. Mass models using H α RCs including or excluding the H i gas component provide compatible disc M/L. The correlations between DM halo and baryon parameters do not strongly depend on the RC. Clearly, the differences between the fitting procedures are larger than between the different data sets. Hybrid and H i RCs lead to higher M/L values for both ISO and NFW best-fitting models but lower central densities for ISO haloes and higher concentration for NFW haloes than when using H α RCs only. The agreement with the mass model parameters deduced using hybrid RCs, considered as a reference, is better for H i than for H α RCs. ISO density profiles better fit the RCs than the NFW ones, especially when using H α or hybrid RCs. Halo masses at the optical radius determined using the various data sets are compatible even if they tend to be overestimated with H α RCs. Hybrid RCs are thus ideal to study the mass distribution within the optical radius.
Aims.
The arm tangent direction provides a unique viewing geometry, with a long path in relatively narrow velocity ranges and lines of view that cross the arm perpendicular to its thickness. The ...spiral arm tangent regions are therefore the best directions for studying the interstellar medium within spiral density waves in the Milky Way, probing the internal structure in the arms. We focus here on the gas kinematics and star formation in the Galactic plane zone with longitudes of between 281° and 285.5° and latitudes of between ∼−2.5° and ∼1°, respectively, which contains the Carina arm tangency.
Methods.
The Carina arm tangent direction was observed as part of a velocity-resolved H
α
survey of the southern Milky Way using a scanning Fabry-Perot mounted on a telescope, which makes it possible to obtain data cubes containing kinematic information. Our detailed analysis of the resultant H
α
profiles reveals the presence of several layers of ionized gas with different velocities over the surveyed region. We combine the H
α
data with multi-wavelength information in order to assign velocity and distance to the H
II
regions in the probed area and to study the star-formation activity in the Carina arm tangency.
Results.
We find that the Carina arm tangency is at
l
= 282°, and that it spreads from 2 to 6 kpc with a
V
LSR
range of between −20 and +20 km s
−1
. We deduce an arm width of ∼236 pc. We also probe the star formation on a scale of ∼1 kpc
−2
, showing that the star-formation activity is intermediate in comparison with the quiescient Solar neighborhood and the most active Galactic central molecular zone. From our analysis of the stellar motions extracted from the
Gaia
DR3 catalog, we observe that stars around 2.5 kpc are tracing the trailing and the leading sides of the arm, while stars at greater distances more closely trace the inner part of the arm. In parallel, we studied the H
α
velocity structure of the H
II
regions RCW48 and RCW49 in detail, confirming the expansion velocity of ∼20 km s
−1
for RCW 49 and the double-shell structure of RCW 48, which is in agreement with a wind interaction with a previous mass-loss episode.
We present the kinematic analysis of a sub-sample of 82 galaxies at 0.75 < z < 1.2 from our new survey HR-COSMOS aimed to obtain the first statistical sample to study the kinematics of star-forming ...galaxies in the treasury COSMOS field at 0 < z < 1.2. We observed 766 emission line galaxies using the multi-slit spectrograph ESO-VLT/VIMOS in high-resolution mode (R = 2500). To better extract galaxy kinematics, VIMOS spectral slits have been carefully tilted along the major axis orientation of the galaxies, making use of the position angle measurements from the high spatial resolution HST/ACS COSMOS images. We constrained the kinematics of the sub-sample at 0.75 < z < 1.2 by creating high-resolution semi-analytical models. We established the stellar-mass Tully-Fisher relation at z ≃ 0.9 with high-quality stellar mass measurements derived using the latest COSMOS photometric catalog, which includes the latest data releases of UltraVISTA and Spitzer. In doubling the sample at these redshifts compared with the literature, we estimated the relation without setting its slope, and found it consistent with previous studies in other deep extragalactic fields assuming no significant evolution of the relation with redshift at z ≲ 1. We computed dynamical masses within the radius R2.2 and found a median stellar-to-dynamical mass fraction equal to 0.2 (assuming Chabrier IMF), which implies a contribution of gas and dark matter masses of 80% of the total mass within R2.2, in agreement with recent integral field spectroscopy surveys. We find no dependence of the stellar-mass Tully-Fisher relation with environment probing up to group scale masses. This study shows that multi-slit galaxy surveys remain a powerful tool to derive kinematics for large numbers of galaxies at both high and low redshift.
Galaxy mergers are believed to trigger strong starbursts. This is well assessed by observations in the local Universe. However, the efficiency of this mechanism has poorly been tested so far for ...high-redshift, actively star-forming, galaxies. We present a suite of pc-resolution hydrodynamical numerical simulations to compare the star formation process along a merging sequence of high- and low-redshift galaxies, by varying the gas mass fraction between the two models. We show that, for the same orbit, high-redshift gas-rich mergers are less efficient than low-redshift ones at producing starbursts; the star formation rate excess induced by the merger and its duration are both around 10 times lower than in the low gas fraction case. The mechanisms that account for the star formation triggering at low redshift -- the increased compressive turbulence, gas fragmentation, and central gas inflows -- are only mildly, if not at all, enhanced for high gas fraction galaxy encounters. Furthermore, we show that the strong stellar feedback from the initially high star formation rate in high-redshift galaxies does not prevent an increase of the star formation during the merger. Our results are consistent with the observed increase of the number of major mergers with increasing redshift being faster than the respective increase in the number of starburst galaxies.
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