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Environmental Effects on Late-Type Galaxies in Nearby Clusters
The transformations that take place in late-type galaxies in theenvironment of rich clusters of galaxies at z=0 are reviewed. From thehandful of late-type galaxies that inhabit local clusters, whether theywere formed in situ and survived as such, avoiding transformation oreven destruction, or if they are newcomers that have recently fallen infrom outside, we can learn an important lesson on the latest stages ofgalaxy evolution. We start by reviewing the observational scenario,covering the broadest possible stretch of the electromagnetic spectrum,from the gas tracers (radio and optical) to the star formation tracers(UV and optical), the old star tracers (near-IR), and the dust (far-IR).Strong emphasis is given to the three nearby, well-studied clustersVirgo, A1367, and Coma, which are representative of differentevolutionary stages, from unrelaxed and spiral-rich (Virgo) to relaxedand spiral-poor (Coma). We continue by providing a review of models ofgalaxy interactions that are relevant to clusters of galaxies.Prototypes of various mechanisms and processes are discussed, and theirtypical timescales are given in an appendix. Observations indicate thepresence of healthy late-type galaxies falling into nearby clustersindividually or as part of massive groups. More rare are infallinggalaxies belonging to compact groups, where significant preprocessingmight take place. Once they have entered the cluster, they lose theirgas and quench their star formation activity, becoming anemic.Observations and theory agree in indicating that the interaction withthe intergalactic medium is responsible for the gas depletion. However,this process cannot be the origin of the cluster lenticular galaxypopulation. Physical and statistical properties of S0 galaxies in nearbyclusters and at higher redshift indicate that they originate from spiralgalaxies that have been transformed by gravitational interactions.
| Study of the Structure of the Coma Cluster Based on a Hierarchical Force Clustering Method
Six subclusters in the Coma cluster have been selected on the basis of ahierarchical clustering method that takes the gravitational interactionamong galaxies into account. Of these, 3 central subclusters around thegalaxies NGC 4889, NGC 4874, and NGC 4839 have been singled out. We haveused the objective statistical criterion applied by Vennik and Anosovain studies of close groups of galaxies to evaluate each member includedin a subcluster with a high probability. Galaxies with a significantdeficit of hydrogen HI, including objects from the Bravo-Alfaro list,have been identified with members of the subclusters, with the greatestnumber of them in the subclusters around NGC 4874 and NGC 4839. Aquantitative estimate of the hydrogen deficit using the HI index in theRCG3 catalog reveals a statistically significant excess value for thosegalaxies that are members of the subclusters compared to galaxies with ahydrogen deficit in the overall Coma cluster field. A substantial numberof the spiral galaxies with a hydrogen deficit in the subclusters turnedout to be radio galaxies as well.
| Active and Star-forming Galaxies and Their Supernovae
To investigate the extent to which nuclear starbursts or other nuclearactivity may be connected with enhanced star formation activity in thehost galaxy, we perform a statistical investigation of supernovae (SNe)discovered in host galaxies from four samples: the Markarian galaxiessample, the Second Byurakan Survey (SBS) sample, the north Galactic pole(NGP) sample of active or star-forming galaxies, and the NGP sample ofnormal galaxies. Forty-seven SNe in 41 Mrk galaxies, 10 SNe in six SBSgalaxies, 29 SNe in 26 NGP active or star-forming galaxies, and 29 SNein 26 NGP normal galaxies have been studied. We find that the rate ofSNe, particularly core-collapse (Types Ib/c and II) SNe, is higher inactive or star-forming galaxies in comparison with normal galaxies.Active or star-forming host galaxies of SNe are generally of latermorphological type and have lower luminosity and smaller linear sizethan normal host galaxies of SNe. The radial distribution of SNe inactive and star-forming galaxies shows a higher concentration toward thecenter of the active host galaxy than is the case for normal hostgalaxies, and this effect is more pronounced for core-collapse SNe.Ib/c-type SNe have been discovered only in active and star-forminggalaxies of our samples. About 78% of these SNe are associated with H IIregions or are located very close to the nuclear regions of these activegalaxies, which are in turn hosting AGNs or starburst nuclei. Besidesthese new results, our study also supports the conclusions of severalother earlier papers. We find that Type Ia SNe occur in all galaxytypes, whereas core-collapse SNe of Types Ib/c and II are found only inspiral and irregular galaxies. The radial distribution of Type Ib SNe intheir host galaxies is more centrally concentrated than that of Type IIand Ia SNe. The radial distances of Types Ib/c and II SNe, from thenuclei of their host galaxies, is larger for barred spiral hosts.Core-collapse SNe are concentrated in spiral arms and are often close toor in the H II regions, whereas Type Ia SNe show only a looseassociation with spiral arms and no clear association with H II regions.
| The build-up of the Coma cluster by infalling substructures
We present a new multiwavelength analysis of the Coma clustersubclustering based on recent X-ray data and on a compilation of nearly900 redshifts. We characterize subclustering using the Serna &Gerbal (1996, A&A, 309, 65) hierarchical method, which makes use ofgalaxy positions, redshifts, and magnitudes, and identify 17 groups. Oneof these groups corresponds to the main cluster, one is the well knowngroup associated with the infalling galaxy NGC 4839, and one isassociated with NGC 4911/NGC 4926. About one third of the 17 groups havevelocity distributions centered on the velocities of the very brightcluster galaxies they contain (magnitudes R < 13). In order to searchfor additional substructures, we made use of the isophotes of X-raybrightness residuals left after the subtraction of the best-fitβ-model from the overall X-ray gas distribution (Neumann et al.2003, A&A, 400, 811). We selected galaxies within each of theseisophotes and compared their velocity distributions with that of thewhole cluster. We confirm in this way the two groups associated,respectively, with NGC 4839, and with the southern part of the extendedwestern substructure visible in X-rays. We discuss the group propertiesin the context of a scenario in which Coma is built by the accretion ofgroups infalling from the surrounding large-scale structure. We estimatethe recent mass accretion rate of Coma and compare it with hierarchicalmodels of cluster evolution.
| A Comparison of the Galaxy Populations in the Coma and Distant Clusters: The Evolution of k+a Galaxies and the Role of the Intracluster Medium
The spectroscopic properties of galaxies in the Coma Cluster arecompared with those of galaxies in rich clusters at z~0.5, toinvestigate the evolution of the star formation history in clusters.Luminous galaxies with MV<=-20 andpoststarburst/post-star-forming (k+a) spectra that constitute asignificant fraction of galaxies in distant cluster samples are absentin Coma, where spectacular cases of k+a spectra are found instead atMV>-18.5 and represent a significant proportion of thecluster dwarf galaxy population. A simple inspection of their positionson the sky indicates that this type of galaxy does not show apreferential location within the cluster, but the bluest and strongestlined group of k+a galaxies lie in projection toward the central 1.4 Mpcof Coma and have radial velocities significantly higher than the clustermean. We find a striking correlation between the positions of theseyoung and strong poststarburst galaxies and substructure in the hotintracluster medium (ICM) identified from XMM-Newton data, with thesegalaxies lying close to the edges of two infalling substructures. Thisresult strongly suggests that the interaction with the dense ICM couldbe responsible for the quenching of the star formation (thus creatingthe k+a spectrum) and, possibly, for any previous starburst. Theevolution with redshift of the luminosity distribution of k+a galaxiescan be explained by a ``downsizing effect,'' with the maximumluminosity/mass of actively star-forming galaxies infalling ontoclusters decreasing at lower redshift. We discuss the possible physicalorigin of this downsizing effect and the implications of our results forcurrent scenarios of environmental effects on the star formation ingalaxies.Based on observations made with the William Herschel Telescope operatedon the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group in the SpanishObservatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisicade Canarias.
| The X-ray luminosity function of galaxies in the Coma cluster
The XMM-Newton survey of the Coma cluster of galaxies covers an area of1.86 square degrees with a mosaic of 16 pointings and has a total usefulintegration time of 400 ks. Detected X-ray sources with extent less than10'' were correlated with cataloged galaxies in the Comacluster region. The redshift information, which is abundant in thisregion of the sky, allowed us to separate cluster members frombackground and foreground galaxies. For the background sources, werecover a typical Log N-Log S in the flux range10-15-10-13 ergs s-1 cm-2 inthe 0.5-2.0 keV band. The X-ray emission from the cluster galaxiesexhibits X-ray colors typical of thermal emission. The luminosities ofComa galaxies lie in the 1039-1041 ergss-1 interval in the 0.5-2.0 keV band. The luminosity functionof Coma galaxies reveals that their X-ray activity is suppressed withrespect to the field by a factor of 5.6, indicating a lower level ofX-ray emission for a given stellar mass.
| Spectrophotometry of galaxies in the Virgo cluster. II. The data
Drift-scan mode (3600-6800 Å) spectra with 500
| Gamma-ray line emission from galaxy clusters
We report first results of a study dedicated to a search for γ-rayline emission from rich galaxy clusters, finding traces of emission fromthe region of Virgo and Coma near the Northern Galactic Pole (NGP). Thestudy is based on the 6 years of COMPTEL data collected during theextended observational programme of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory(CGRO) monitoring of the Virgo and 3C273 region. We point out theadvantages of performing this study using an energy range that containsthe strongest excitation γ-ray lines of 16O at 6.13,6.9 and 7.1 MeV, as well as lines at 6.175 MeV(15O*) and 6.322 MeV (15N*)of the spallation products of the cosmic ray interactions with16O. We discuss a generation mechanism for γ-ray lineemission in merging clusters via excitation of the abundant element(s)of the intracluster matter at the merger shock by the subrelativisticprotons accelerated to energies of 10 MeV to 100 MeV/n in themerger process.The COMPTEL project is supported by the BMBF through DLR grant 50 QV9096 8. AFI acknowledges financial support from the BMBF through the DLRgrant 50 OR 0002.
| Detection of Nonrandom Galaxy Orientations in X-Ray Subclusters of the Coma Cluster
This study on the Coma Cluster suggests that there are deviations from acompletely random galaxy orientation on small scales. Since we found asignificant coincidence of hot-gas features identified in the latestX-ray observations of Coma with these local anisotropies, they mayindicate regions of recent mutual interaction of member galaxies withinsubclusters that are currently falling in on the main cluster.
| The dynamical state of the Coma cluster with XMM-Newton
We present in this paper a substructure and spectroimaging study of theComa cluster of galaxies based on XMM-Newton data. XMM-Newton performeda mosaic of observations of Coma to ensure a large coverage of thecluster. We add the different pointings together and fit ellipticalbeta-models to the data. We subtract the cluster models from the dataand look for residuals, which can be interpreted as substructure. Wefind several significant structures: the well-known subgroup connectedto NGC 4839 in the South-West of the cluster, and another substructurelocated between NGC 4839 and the centre of the Coma cluster.Constructing a hardness ratio image, which can be used as a temperaturemap, we see that in front of this new structure the temperature issignificantly increased (higher or equal 10 keV). We interpret thistemperature enhancement as the result of heating as this structure fallsonto the Coma cluster. We furthermore reconfirm the filament-likestructure South-East of the cluster centre. This region is significantlycooler than the mean cluster temperature. We estimate the temperature ofthis structure to be equal or below 1 keV. A possible scenario toexplain the observed features is stripping caused by the infall of asmall group of galaxies located around the two galaxies NGC 4921 and NGC4911 into the Coma cluster with a non-zero impact parameter. We also seesignificant X-ray depressions North and South-East of NGC 4921, whichmight either be linked to tidal forces due to the merger with theWestern structure or connected to an older cluster merger.Table 1 is only available in electronic form at\http://www.edpsciences.org
| A New Empirical Method for Estimating the Far-Infrared Flux of Galaxies
We propose a new empirical method to estimate the total far-infraredflux of galaxies from the spectral energy distribution (SED) atwavelengths of λ <= 100 μm. It is difficult to derive thetotal far-infrared luminosity from only the IRAS data, though it is oneof the most important properties of galaxies. Observations by InfraredTelescope in Space (IRTS) indicate that the SED of the diffuse emissionfrom the Galactic plane in this wavelength region can be derived fromthe 60 μm to 100 μm color. This empirical SED relation wasimproved in order to obtain a better fit to the Galactic plane data forIν(60 μm) / Iν(100 μm) > 0.6, andapplied to 96 IRAS galaxies for which ISOPHOT and KAO data are availableat λ > 100 μm. As a result, the empirical relation welldescribes the far-infrared (FIR) SED for a majority of galaxies.Additionally, the total FIR flux for λ >= 40 μm was derivedfrom the flux densities at 60 and 100 μm by using this model. For the96 IRAS galaxies, the uncertainty in the total far-infrared flux of thepresent method is 26%. The present method is more accurate than theprevious one widely used to derive the total infrared flux from the IRAS60 and 100 μm data.
| The UZC-SSRS2 Group Catalog
We apply a friends-of-friends algorithm to the combined Updated ZwickyCatalog and Southern Sky Redshift Survey to construct a catalog of 1168groups of galaxies; 411 of these groups have five or more members withinthe redshift survey. The group catalog covers 4.69 sr, and all groupsexceed the number density contrast threshold, δρ/ρ=80. Wedemonstrate that the groups catalog is homogeneous across the twounderlying redshift surveys; the catalog of groups and their membersthus provides a basis for other statistical studies of the large-scaledistribution of groups and their physical properties. The medianphysical properties of the groups are similar to those for groupsderived from independent surveys, including the ESO Key Programme andthe Las Campanas Redshift Survey. We include tables of groups and theirmembers.
| Hα surface photometry of galaxies in the Virgo cluster. IV. The current star formation in nearby clusters of galaxies
Hα +[NII] imaging observations of 369 late-type (spiral) galaxiesin the Virgo cluster and in the Coma/A1367 supercluster are analyzed,covering 3 rich nearby clusters (A1367, Coma and Virgo) and nearlyisolated galaxies in the Great-Wall. They constitute an opticallyselected sample (mp<16.0) observed with ~ 60 %completeness. These observations provide us with the current(T<107 yrs) star formation properties of galaxies that westudy as a function of the clustercentric projected distances (Theta ).The expected decrease of the star formation rate (SFR), as traced by theHα EW, with decreasing Theta is found only when galaxies brighterthan Mp ~ -19.5 are considered. Fainter objects show no orreverse trends. We also include in our analysis Near Infrared data,providing information on the old (T>109 yrs) stars. Puttogether, the young and the old stellar indicators give the ratio ofcurrently formed stars over the stars formed in the past, or``birthrate'' parameter b. For the considered galaxies we also determinethe ``global gas content'' combining HI with CO observations. We definethe ``gas deficiency'' parameter as the logarithmic difference betweenthe gas content of isolated galaxies of a given Hubble type and themeasured gas content. For the isolated objects we find that b decreaseswith increasing NIR luminosity. In other words less massive galaxies arecurrently forming stars at a higher rate than their giant counterpartswhich experienced most of their star formation activity at earliercosmological epochs. The gas-deficient objects, primarily members of theVirgo cluster, have a birthrate significantly lower than the isolatedobjects with normal gas content and of similar NIR luminosity. Thisindicates that the current star formation is regulated by the gaseouscontent of spirals. Whatever mechanism (most plausibly ram-pressurestripping) is responsible for the pattern of gas deficiency observed inspiral galaxies members of rich clusters, it also produces the observedquenching of the current star formation. A significant fraction of gas``healthy'' (i.e. with a gas deficiency parameter less than 0.4) andcurrently star forming galaxies is unexpectedly found projected near thecenter of the Virgo cluster. Their average Tully-Fisher distance isfound approximately one magnitude further away (muo = 31.77)than the distance of their gas-deficient counterparts (muo =30.85), suggesting that the gas healthy objects belong to a cloudprojected onto the cluster center, but in fact lying a few Mpc behindVirgo, thus unaffected by the dense IGM of the cluster. Based onobservations taken at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional(Mexico), the OHP (France), Calar Alto and NOT (Spain) observatories.Table \ref{tab4} is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| The colour-magnitude relation for galaxies in the Coma cluster
We present a new photometric catalogue of the Coma galaxy cluster in theJohnson U and V bands. We cover an area of 3360arcmin2 ofsky, to a depth of \fontshape{it}{V}=20\hphantom{0} mag in a13-arcsec diameter aperture, and produce magnitudes for ~1400 extendedobjects in metric apertures from 8.8- to 26-arcsec diameters. The meaninternal rms scatter in the photometry is 0.014mag in V, and 0.026mag inU, for \fontshape{it}{V}13<17\hphantom{0}mag.We place new limits on the levels of scatter in the colour-magnituderelation (CMR) in the Coma cluster, and investigate how the slope andscatter of the CMR depend on galaxy morphology, luminosity and positionwithin the cluster. As expected, the lowest levels of scatter are foundin the elliptical galaxies, while the late-type galaxies have thehighest numbers of galaxies bluewards of the CMR. We investigate whetherthe slope of the CMR is an artefact of colour gradients within galaxies,and show that it persists when the colours are measured within adiameter that scales with galaxy size. Looking at the environmentaldependence of the CMR, we find a trend of systematically bluer galaxycolours with increasing projected radius from the centre of the cluster.Surprisingly, this is accompanied by a decreased scatter of the CMR. Weinvestigate whether this gradient could be caused by dust in the clusterpotential, however the reddening required would produce too large ascatter in the colours of the central galaxies. The gradient appears tobe better reproduced by a gradient in the mean galactic ages withprojected radius.
| VLA HI Imaging of the brightest spiral galaxies in Coma. II. The HI Atlas and deep continuum imaging of selected early type galaxies
In the first paper of this series we used HI observations of the 19brightest spirals in Coma to analyze the dynamical state of the cluster.In this paper we present the detailed HI distribution and kinematics ofthe spirals that were detected in HI, and radio continuum data for asample of star forming and post starburst galaxies in Coma. We discussthe importance of ICM-ISM interactions to explain the observed HImorphology. A rough comparison of observed HI sizes with predicted HIsizes from simulations by Abadi et al. (\cite{Abadi99}) gives reasonableagreement. We use the results on radio continuum emission to estimatethe star formation rate in the PSB galaxies we pointed at. The radiocontinuum emission in the 11 so called post starburst galaxies,identified by Caldwell et al. (\cite{Caldwell93}) in the cluster, isweak. Eight of the 11 were not detected down to a 3 sigma upper limit of0.6 mJy. This sets an upper limit to the star formation rate in thesegalaxies of less than 0.2 Msun,yr-1. The threedetected post starburst galaxies have a star formation rate of less thanone solar mass per year. Thus none of the post starburst galaxies inComa are dust enshrouded starbursts. Appendix is only available inelectronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org
| XMM-Newton observation of the Coma Galaxy cluster. The temperature structure in the central region
We present a temperature map and a temperature profile of the centralpart (r < 20' or 1/4 virial radius) of the Coma cluster. We combined5 overlapping pointings made with XMM/EPIC/MOS and extracted spectra inboxes of 3.5'x3.5'. The temperature distribution around the two centralgalaxies is remarkably homogeneous (r<10'), contrary to previous ASCAresults, suggesting that the core is actually in a relaxed state. Atlarger distance from the cluster center we do see evidence for recentmatter accretion. We confirm the cool area in the direction of NGC 4921,probably due to gas stripped from an infalling group. We findindications of a hot front in the South West, in the direction of NGC4839, probably due to an adiabatic compression. Based on observationsobtained with XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments andcontributions directly funded by ESA Member States and the USA (NASA).EPIC was developed by the EPIC Consortium led by the PrincipalInvestigator, Dr. M. J. L. Turner. The consortium comprises thefollowing Institutes: University of Leicester, University of Birmingham,(UK); CEA/Saclay, IAS Orsay, CESR Toulouse, (France); IAAP Tuebingen,MPE Garching, (Germany); IFC Milan, ITESRE Bologna, IAUP Palermo, Italy.EPIC is funded by: PPARC, CEA, CNES, DLR and ASI.
| A mosaic of the Coma cluster of galaxies with XMM-Newton
The Coma cluster of galaxies was observed withXMM-Newton in 12 partially overlapping pointings. We present here theresulting X-ray map in different energy bands and discuss the largescale structure of this cluster. Many point sources were foundthroughout the observed area, at least 11 of them are coincident withbright galaxies. We also give a hardness ratio map at the so far highestangular resolution obtained for a cluster of galaxies. In this map wefound soft regions at the position of bright galaxies, little variationin the central 15 arcmin, but some harder regions north of the lineNGC 4874 - NGC 4889. Based onobservations with XMM-Newton, an ESA Science Mission with instrumentsand contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and the USA(NASA).
| Mid and Far IR properties of late-type galaxies in the Coma and A1367 clusters: ISOCAM and ISOPHOT observations
We present Mid (MIR) and Far (FIR) Infrared observations of 18spiral/irregular galaxies belonging to the Coma and A1367 clusters,carried out with the CAM and PHOT instruments on board the ISOsatellite. Complementary photometry from the UV to the Near Infrared(NIR) together with Hα imaging, HI and 12CO linemeasurements allow us to study the relationships between the IR emissionand the star formation properties of these galaxies. Most of theresolved galaxies show extended MIR emission throughout their disks evenwhere no Hα emission is present. This suggests that the Aromaticcarriers can be excited by the general interstellar radiation field(ISRF), i.e. by visible photons. Only close to HII regions the UVphotons are the principal sources of Aromatic carrier excitation.However, when the UV radiation field becomes intense enough thesecarriers can be destroyed. The average integrated 15/6.75 mu m ratio ofthe observed galaxies is ~ 1, i.e. the typical value for thephotodissociation regions (PDRs). This suggests that, despite the highstar formation rate (SFR) and the very luminous HII regions of thesegalaxies, their integrated MIR emission is dominated by PDR-like regionsrather than HII-like regions. A cold dust component with averagetemperature ~ 22 K exists in most of the target galaxies, probablyarising from big dust grains (BGs) in thermal equilibrium with the ISRF.The contribution to the BGs heating from the ionizing stars decreaseswith increasing wavelength. A warmer dust component whose emissiondominates the spectrum between 20 and 100 mu m is likely to exist. Thisis probably due to both Very Small Grains (VSGs) and warm BGs emission.The dust to gas ratio of the target galaxies is comparable to that ofthe solar neighborhood. There is a weak trend between the dust totalmass and both the atomic and molecular gas content. The MIR and FIRproperties of the analyzed galaxies do not seem to be affected by theenvironment despite the fact that most of the targets are interactingwith the Intra-Cluster-Medium. Based on observations with ISO, an ESAproject with instruments funded by ESA member states (especially the PIcountries: France, Germany, The Netherlands and the UK) and with theparticipation of ISAS and NASA.
| An Hα survey of eight Abell clusters: the dependence of tidally induced star formation on cluster density
We have undertaken a survey of Hα emission in a substantiallycomplete sample of CGCG galaxies of types Sa and later within 1.5 Abellradii of the centres of eight low-redshift Abell clusters (Abell 262,347, 400, 426, 569, 779, 1367 and 1656). Some 320 galaxies weresurveyed, of which 116 were detected in emission (39 per cent ofspirals, 75 per cent of peculiars). Here we present previouslyunpublished data for 243 galaxies in seven clusters. Detected emissionis classified as `compact' or `diffuse'. From an analysis of the fullsurvey sample, we confirm our previous identification of compact anddiffuse emission with circumnuclear starburst and disc emissionrespectively. The circumnuclear emission is associated either with thepresence of a bar, or with a disturbed galaxy morphology indicative ofongoing tidal interactions (whether galaxy-galaxy, galaxy-group, orgalaxy-cluster). The frequency of such tidally induced (circumnuclear)starburst emission in spirals increases from regions of lower to higherlocal galaxy surface density, and from clusters with lower to highercentral galaxy space density. The percentages of spirals classed asdisturbed and of galaxies classified as peculiar show a similar trend.These results suggest that tidal interactions for spirals are morefrequent in regions of higher local density and for clusters with highercentral galaxy density. The prevalence of such tidal interactions inclusters is expected from recent theoretical modelling of clusters witha non-static potential undergoing collapse and infall. Furthermore, inaccord with this picture, we suggest that peculiar galaxies arepredominantly ongoing mergers. We conclude that tidal interactions arelikely to be the main mechanism for the transformation of spirals to S0sin clusters. This mechanism operates more efficiently in higher densityenvironments, as is required by the morphological type-local surfacedensity (T-Σ) relation for galaxies in clusters. For regions ofcomparable local density, the frequency of tidally induced starburstemission is greater in clusters with higher central galaxy density. Thisimplies that, for a given local density, morphological transformation ofdisc galaxies proceeds more rapidly in clusters of higher central galaxydensity. This effect is considered to be the result of subclustermerging, and could account for the previously considered anomalousabsence of a significant T-Σ relation for irregular clusters atintermediate redshift.
| 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.
| Luminosity versus Phase-Space-Density Relation of Galaxies Revisited
We reexamined the correlation between the BTmagnitude and the phase-space-density parameterw=(D225vc)-1 of galaxies forthe Virgo, the Coma, the Fornax, and the Perseus clusters in an effortto better understand the physical underpinning of the fundamental plane.A tight correlation (BT=alog w+b) common to differentmorphological types of galaxies (E, S0, S) was found for the Virgo andthe Coma clusters, with a=1.87+/-0.10 and 1.33+/-0.11, respectively. Aninvestigation using only E galaxies was made for the four clusters. Theresults indicated that the empirical linear relation might be commonamong the Coma, the Fornax, and the Perseus clusters, with the VirgoCluster showing deviation. This relation, which is another way toproject the fundamental plane, has an expression insensitive to themorphology and may be suitable for treating galaxies of differentmorphological types collectively.
| A Dynamical Study of Galaxies in the Hickson Compact Groups
To investigate dynamical properties of spiral galaxies in the Hicksoncompact groups (HCGs), we present rotation curves of 30 galaxies in 20HCGs. We found as follows: (1) There is no significant relation betweendynamical peculiarity and morphological peculiarity in HCG spiralgalaxies. (2) There is no significant relation between the dynamicalproperties and the frequency distribution of nuclear activities in HCGspiral galaxies. (3) There are no significant correlations between thedynamical properties of HCG spiral galaxies and any group properties(i.e., size, velocity dispersion, galaxy number density, and crossingtime). (4) Asymmetric and peculiar rotation curves are more frequentlyseen in the HCG spiral galaxies than in field spiral galaxies or incluster ones. However, this tendency is more obviously seen in late-typeHCG spiral galaxies. These results suggest that the dynamical propertiesof HCG spiral galaxies do not strongly correlate with the morphology,the nuclear activity, and the group properties. Our results also suggestthat more frequent galaxy collisions occur in the HCGs than in the fieldand in the clusters.
| VLA H I Imaging of the Brightest Spiral Galaxies in Coma
We have obtained 21 cm images of 19 spiral galaxies in the Coma cluster,using the VLA in its C and D configurations. The sample selection wasbased on morphology, brightness, and optical diameters of galaxieswithin one Abell radius (1.2d). The H I-detected, yet deficient galaxiesshow a strong correlation in their H I properties with projecteddistance from the cluster center. The most strongly H I-deficient(DefH I>0.4) galaxies are located inside a radius of 30'(~0.6 Mpc) from the center of Coma, roughly the extent of the centralX-ray emission. These central galaxies show clear asymmetries in their HI distribution and/or shifts between the optical and 21 cm positions.Another 12 spirals were not detected in H I with typical H I mass upperlimits of 108 Msolar. Seven of the 12nondetections are located in the central region of Coma, roughly within30' from the center. The other nondetections are to the east andsouthwest of the center. We looked for seven so-called blue diskgalaxies in Coma in H I and detected six. These galaxies are relativelyclose to the central region of Coma. The nondetected one is the closestto the center. The six detected blue galaxies are mildly H I deficient.We did a more sensitive search for H I from 11 of the 15 knownpoststarburst galaxies in Coma. None were detected with typical H I masslimits between 3 and 7x107 Msolar. Our resultspresent and enhance a picture already familiar for well-studiedclusters. H I poor galaxies (deficient ones and nondetections) areconcentrated toward the center of the cluster. The H I morphology of thecentral galaxies with optical disks extending beyond the H I disks isunique to cluster environments and strongly suggests an interaction withthe intergalactic medium (IGM). A new result in Coma is the clumpydistribution of gas deficiency. In the cluster center the deficientgalaxies are to the east while the nondetections are to the west. In theouter parts the gas rich galaxies are north of Coma, nondetected spiralsare found in the NGC 4944 group to the east, and the NGC 4839 group isto the southwest. This supports recent findings that merging of groupsis ongoing in the center of Coma, farther out the NGC 4944 and NGC 4839must have passed at least once through the core, and the galaxies to thenorth have yet to fall in.
| 1.65 μm (H-band) surface photometry of galaxies. III. observations of 558 galaxies with the TIRGO 1.5 m telescope
We present near-infrared H-band (1.65 μm ) surface photometry of 558galaxies in the Coma Supercluster and in the Virgo cluster. This dataset, obtained with the Arcetri NICMOS3 camera ARNICA mounted on theGornergrat Infrared Telescope, is aimed at complementing, withobservations of mostly early-type objects, our NIR survey of spiralgalaxies in these regions, presented in previous papers of this series.Magnitudes at the optical radius, total magnitudes, isophotal radii andlight concentration indices are derived. We confirm the existence of apositive correlation between the near-infrared concentration index andthe galaxy H-band luminosity Based on observations taken at TIRGO(Gornergrat, Switzerland). TIRGO is operated by CAISMI-CNR, Arcetri,Firenze, Italy. Tables 1 and 2 are only available in electronic form atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| 1.65 μm (H-band) surface photometry of galaxies. V. Profile decomposition of 1157 galaxies
We present near-infrared H-band (1.65 μm) surface brightness profiledecomposition for 1157 galaxies in five nearby clusters of galaxies:Coma, A1367, Virgo, A262 and Cancer, and in the bridge between Coma andA1367 in the ``Great Wall". The optically selected (mpg≤16.0) sample is representative of all Hubble types, from E to Irr+BCD,except dE and of significantly different environments, spanning fromisolated regions to rich clusters of galaxies. We model the surfacebrightness profiles with a de Vaucouleurs r1/4 law (dV), withan exponential disk law (E), or with a combination of the two (B+D).From the fitted quantities we derive the H band effective surfacebrightness (μe) and radius (re) of each component, theasymptotic magnitude HT and the light concentration indexC31. We find that: i) Less than 50% of the Ellipticalgalaxies have pure dV profiles. The majority of E to Sb galaxies is bestrepresented by a B+D profile. All Scd to BCD galaxies have pureexponential profiles. ii) The type of decomposition is a strong functionof the total H band luminosity (mass), independent of the Hubbleclassification: the fraction of pure exponential decompositionsdecreases with increasing luminosity, that of B+D increases withluminosity. Pure dV profiles are absent in the low luminosity rangeLH<1010 L\odot and become dominantabove 1011 L\odot . Based on observations taken atTIRGO, Gornergrat, Switzerland (operated by CAISMI-CNR, Arcetri,Firenze, Italy) and at the Calar Alto Observatory (operated by theMax-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (Heidelberg) jointly with theSpanish National Commission for Astronomy). Table 2 and Figs. 2, 3, 4are available in their entirety only in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Asymmetric, arc minute scale structures around NGC 1275
ROSAT HRI observations show complicated substructure in the X-raysurface brightness within ~ 5 arcminutes around NGC 1275 - the dominantgalaxy of the Perseus cluster. The typical amplitude of the variationsis of the order of 30% of the azimuthally averaged surface brightness ata given distance from NGC 1275. We argue that this substructure could berelated to the activity of NGC 1275 in the past. Bubbles of relativisticplasma, inflated by jets, being forced to rise by buoyancy forces, mixwith the ambient intracluster medium (ICM), and then spread. Overallevolution of the bubble may resemble the evolution of a hot bubbleduring a powerful atmospheric explosion. From a comparison of the timescale of the bubble inflation to the rise time of the bubbles and fromthe observed size of the radio lobes which displace the thermal gas, theenergy release in the relativistic plasma by the active nucleus of NGC1275 can be inferred. Approximate modeling implies a nuclear poweroutput of the order of 1045 erg s-1 averaged overthe last ~ 3 107 years. This is comparable with the energyradiated in X-rays during the same epoch. Detailed measurements of themorphology of the X-ray structure, the temperature and abundancedistributions with Chandra and XMM may test this hypothesis.
| 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.
| The I-Band Tully-Fisher Relation for SC Galaxies: Optical Imaging Data
Properties derived from the analysis of photometric I-band imagingobservations are presented for 1727 inclined spiral galaxies, mostly oftypes Sbc and Sc. The reduction, parameter extraction, and errorestimation procedures are discussed in detail. The asymptotic behaviorof the magnitude curve of growth and the radial variation in ellipticityand position angle are used in combination with the linearity of thesurface brightness falloff to fit the disk portion of the profile. TotalI-band magnitudes are calculated by extrapolating the detected surfacebrightness profile to a radius of eight disk scale lengths. Errors inthe magnitudes, typically ~0.04 mag, are dominated by uncertainties inthe sky subtraction and disk-fitting procedures. Comparison is made withthe similar imaging database of Mathewson, Ford, & Buchhorn, both aspresented originally by those authors and after reanalyzing theirdigital reduction files using identical disk-fitting procedures. Directcomparison is made of profile details for 292 galaxies observed incommon. Although some differences occur, good agreement is found,proving that the two data sets can be used in combination with onlyminor accommodation of those differences. The compilation of opticalproperties presented here is optimized for use in applications of theTully-Fisher relation as a secondary distance indicator in studies ofthe local peculiar velocity field.
| The intra-cluster medium influence on spiral galaxies
We made a detailed analysis of the sample of 39 cluster spiral galaxiesof various types observed at Hα wavelength by Amram et al. (1992to 1996), with a scanning Fabry-Perot. We plotted the outer gradient oftheir rotation curves as a function of the deprojected cluster-centricdistance. The rotation curves of late type galaxies markedly rise farfrom the cluster center. This suggests evolutionary effects, since earlytypes show no special trend. We suggest that the evolution processwithin a cluster leads late type galaxies to exhibit flatter curves whenthey get closer to the center, on their way to evolving into early typegalaxies.
| On the local radio luminosity function of galaxies. II. Environmental dependences among late-type galaxies
Using new extensive radio continuum surveys at 1.4 GHz (FIRST and NVSS),we derive the distribution of the radio/optical and radio/NIR luminosity(RLF) of late-type (Sa-Irr) galaxies (m_p<15.7) in 5 nearby clustersof galaxies: A262, Cancer, A1367, Coma and Virgo. With the aim ofdiscussing possible environmental dependences of the radio properties,we compare these results with those obtained for relatively isolatedobjects in the Coma supercluster. We find that the RLF of Cancer, A262and Virgo are consistent with that of isolated galaxies. Conversely weconfirm earlier claims that galaxies in A1367 and Coma have their radioemissivity enhanced by a factor ~ 5 with respect to isolated objects. Wediscuss this result in the framework of the dynamical pressure sufferedby galaxies in motion through the intra-cluster gas (ram-pressure). Wefind that the radio excess is statistically larger for galaxies in fasttransit motion. This is coherent with the idea that enhanced radiocontinuum activity is associated with magnetic field compression. TheX-ray luminosities and temperatures of Coma and A1367 imply that thesetwo clusters have significantly larger intracluster gas density than theremaining three studied ones, providing a clue for explaining the higherradio continuum luminosities of their galaxies. Multiple systems in theComa supercluster bridge (with projected separations smaller than 300kpc) have radio luminosities significantly larger than isolatedgalaxies. Table~1 is only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html}
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