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The structure of elliptical galaxies in the Virgo cluster. Results from the INT Wide Field Survey
We report on a complete CCD imaging survey of 226 elliptical galaxies inthe North-East quadrant of the Virgo cluster, representative of theproperties of giant and dwarf elliptical galaxies in this cluster. Wefit their radial light profiles with the Sersic r1/n model oflight distribution. We confirm the result of Graham & Guzman(\cite{Graham03}, AJ, 125, 2936) that the apparent dichotomy between Eand dE galaxies in the luminosity-< μ>e plane nolonger appears when other structural parameters are considered and canbe entirely attributed to the onset of ``core'' galaxies atBT -20.5 mag. When ``core'' galaxies are notconsidered, E and dE form a unique family with n linearly increasingwith the luminosity. For 90 galaxies we analyze the B-I color indices,both in the nuclear and in the outer regions. Both indices are bluertoward fainter luminosities. We find also that the outer color gradientsdo not show any significant correlation with the luminosity. The scatterin all color indicators increases significantly toward lowerluminosities, e.g. galaxies fainter than BT -15 have aB-I spread > 0.5 mag.Table 2, Figs. 13 and 14 are only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| Completing H I observations of galaxies in the Virgo cluster
High sensitivity (rms noise 0.5 mJy) 21-cm H I line observationswere made of 33 galaxies in the Virgo cluster, using the refurbishedArecibo telescope, which resulted in the detection of 12 objects. Thesedata, combined with the measurements available from the literature,provide the first set of H I data that is complete for all 355 late-type(Sa-Im-BCD) galaxies in the Virgo cluster with mp ≤ 18.0mag. The Virgo cluster H I mass function (HIMF) that was derived forthis optically selected galaxy sample is in agreement with the HIMFderived for the Virgo cluster from the blind HIJASS H I survey and isinconsistent with the Field HIMF. This indicates that both in this richcluster and in the general field, neutral hydrogen is primarilyassociated with late-type galaxies, with marginal contributions fromearly-type galaxies and isolated H I clouds. The inconsistency betweenthe cluster and the field HIMF derives primarily from the difference inthe optical luminosity function of late-type galaxies in the twoenvironments, combined with the HI deficiency that is known to occur ingalaxies in rich clusters.Tables \ref{t1, \ref{sample_dat} and Appendix A are only available inelectronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org
| Are interactions the primary triggers of star formation in dwarf galaxies?
We investigate the assumption that the trigger of star formation indwarf galaxies is interactions with other galaxies, in the context of asearch for a `primary' trigger of a first generation of stars. This iscosmologically relevant because the galaxy formation process consistsnot only of the accumulation of gas in a gravitational potential wellbut also of the triggering of star formation in this gas mass, and alsobecause some high-z potentially primeval galaxy blocks look like nearbystar-forming dwarf galaxies. We review theoretical ideas proposed toaccount for the tidal interaction triggering mechanism and present aseries of observational tests of this assumption using published data.We also show results of a search in the vicinity of a composite sampleof 96 dwarf late-type galaxies for interaction candidates showing starformation. The small number of possible perturbing galaxies identifiedin the neighbourhood of our sample galaxies, along with similar findingsfrom other studies, supports the view that tidal interactions may not berelevant as primary triggers of star formation. We conclude thatinteractions between galaxies may explain some forms of star formationtriggering, perhaps in central regions of large galaxies, but they donot seem to be significant for dwarf galaxies and, by inference, forfirst-time galaxies forming at high redshifts. Intuitive reasoning,based on an analogy with stellar dynamics, shows that conditions forprimary star formation triggering may occur in gas masses oscillating ina dark-matter gravitational potential. We propose this mechanism as aplausible primary trigger scenario, which would be worth investigatingtheoretically.
| Galaxy Populations and Evolution in Clusters. IV. Deep H I Observations of Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster
In this paper we present deep Arecibo H I and WIYN optical observationsof Virgo Cluster dwarf elliptical galaxies. Based on this data we arguethat a significant fraction of low-mass galaxies in the Virgo Clusterrecently underwent evolution. Our new observations consist of H I 21 cmline observations for 22 classified dE galaxies with optical radialvelocities consistent with membership in the Virgo Cluster. Clustermembers VCC 390 and VCC 1713 are detected with H I massesMHI=6×107 and 8×107Msolar, respectively, while MHI values in theremaining 20 dE galaxies have upper limits as low as~5×105 Msolar. We combine our results withthose for 26 other Virgo Cluster dE galaxies with H I observations inthe literature, seven of which have H I detection claims. New opticalimages from the WIYN telescope of five of these H I-detected dEgalaxies, along with archival data, suggest that seven of the claimeddetections are true H I detections, yielding a ~15% detection rate.These H I-detected, classified dE galaxies are preferentially locatednear the periphery of the Virgo Cluster. Three Virgo dE galaxies haveobserved H I velocity widths greater than 200 km s-1,possibly indicating the presence of a large dark matter content ortransient extended H I. We discuss the possible origins of these objectsand argue that they originate from field galaxies accreted onto highangular momentum orbits by Virgo in the last few Gyr. As a result ofthis, we argue, these galaxies are slowly transformed within the clusterby gradual gas-stripping processes, associated truncation of starformation, and passive fading of stellar populations. Low-mass,early-type cluster galaxies are therefore currently being produced asthe product of cluster environmental effects. We utilize our results ina simple model to estimate the recent (past 1-3 Gyr) average massaccretion rate into the Virgo Cluster, deriving a value of M~50Msolar yr-1.
| Broad-band colours of Virgo cluster low surface brightness dwarf irregular galaxies
We present UBVRI images and surface photometry of a complete sample of29 low-luminosity dwarf irregular galaxies in the Virgo cluster, forwhich we derive central surface brightnesses, scalelengths, integratedmagnitudes and median colours. The colour distributions are discussed interms of radial surface brightness profiles, and colour gradients areinterpreted and compared with corresponding ones for lowsurface-brightness (LSB) spiral galaxies. By combining broad-band andnarrow-band filter observations, the past and current influences of thecluster environment on the evolution of LSB dwarf irregular galaxies isevaluated.
| Galaxy Populations and Evolution in Clusters. I. Dynamics and the Origin of Low-Mass Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster
Early-type dwarfs are the most common galaxy in the local universe, yettheir origin and evolution remain a mystery. Various cosmologicalscenarios predict that dwarf-like galaxies in dense areas are the firstto form and hence should be the oldest stellar systems in clusters. Byusing radial velocities of early-type dwarfs in the Virgo cluster wedemonstrate that these galaxies are not an old cluster population buthave signatures of production from the infall of field galaxies.Evidence of this includes the combined large dispersions andsubstructure in spatial and kinematic distributions for Virgo early-typedwarfs and a velocity dispersion ratio with giant ellipticals expectedfor virialized and accreted populations. We also argue that thesegalaxies cannot originate from accreted field dwarfs, but must havephysically evolved from a precursor population, of different morphology,that fell into Virgo some time in the past.
| Late-type dwarf irregular galaxies in the Virgo cluster - I. H alpha and red continuum data
We present H alpha and red continuum observations for a sample oflate-type low surface brightness (LSB) dwarf irregular galaxies,consisting of all the ImIV and V galaxies with m_B<= 17.2 in theVirgo cluster, and compare them with similar data for a representativesample of high surface brightness (HSB) dwarf irregular galaxies, alsoin the Virgo cluster. Line fluxes and equivalent widths are listed forindividual HII regions, and total H alpha emission is measured for theentire galaxy. Although significant line emission originates in the HIIregions that we have identified, it does not make up the entire H alphaoutput of all galaxies. For those objects in the LSB sample withHα emission, we find typical star formation rates (SFRs) from6.9x10^-3 to as high as 4.3x10^-2 M_solar yr^-1. This is, on average,one order of magnitude weaker than for HSB objects, although the SFRsoverlap. On average, ~2 HII regions are detected per LSB galaxy, for atotal of 38 HII regions among 17 galaxies with Hα emission. TheHII regions are smaller and fainter than in HSB galaxies in the sameVirgo cluster environment, have Hα line equivalent widths about 50per cent of those in HSBs, and cover similar fractions of the galaxies.When more than one HII region is present in a galaxy, we observe astrong intensity difference between the brightest and the secondbrightest HII regions. The line-emitting regions of LSB galaxies arepreferentially located at the periphery of the galaxy, while in HSBsthey tend to be central. The Hα line strength of an HII region iscorrelated with the red continuum light underneath the region; thisholds for both LSBs and HSBs. We do not identify fundamental differencesin the star formation properties of the LSB and HSB dwarf galaxies thatwe have studied, and we infer that these galaxies must be similar, withthe difference being the intensity of the present star formation burst.
| Late-type dwarf galaxies in the Virgo cluster - I. The samples
We selected samples of late-type dwarf galaxies in the Virgo clusterwith HI information. The galaxies were observed at the Wise Observatoryusing several broad-band and Hα bandpasses. UV measurements werecarried out with the IUE Observatory from VILSPA, and with the FAUSTshuttle-borne UV telescope. We describe the observations in detail,paying particular attention to the determination of measurement errors,and present the observational results together with published data andfar-infrared information from IRAS. The sample will be analysed insubsequent papers, in order to study star formation mechanisms ingalaxies.
| Is the shape of the luminosity profile of dwarf elliptical galaxies an useful distance indicator?
The shape of the surface brightness profile of dE galaxies, quantifiedby parameter n of Sersic's generalized profile law, has recently beenput forward as new extragalactic distance indicator (Young & Currie1994). Its application to the Virgo cluster has subsequently led to theclaim that the Virgo dEs are not lying in the cluster core but aredistributed in a prolate structure stretching from 8 to 20 Mpc distance(Young & Currie 1995). This claim is refuted here. We have fitted aSersic law to the surface brightness profiles of 128 Virgo cluster dEsand dS0s from the photometry of Binggeli & Cameron (1991). Thedispersion of the n - M relation is indeed large (sigma_rms ~ 0.9 mag).However, we argue that this scatter is not due to the depth of the Virgocluster, but is essentially intrinsic. Contrary to what one would expectfrom the cluster depth hypothesis, there is no clearvelocity-``distance'' relation for a sample of 43 Virgo dEs and dS0swith known redshifts. The analysis of Young & Currie (1995) ishampered by the use of low-resolution photometry and flawed by theassumption that the n - M and n - R relations can be used independently.By combining different Sersic law parameters, the scatter of the scalingrelations can be reduced somewhat, but never below sigma_rms ~ 0.7 mag,at least for the Virgo cluster. For the purpose of distancemeasurements, this falls short of the well-established Tully-Fisher andD_n - sigma methods, and it is comparable to what one can get alreadyfrom the < mu >_eff - M relation for dEs, which does not requireany profile modelling.
| Extended LY alpha -absorbing Halos around Nearby Galaxies
In order to establish the Lyα absorption cross section ofpresent-day galaxies, we have identified 38 galaxies with z = 0-0.08that lie within 40-500 h^-1^ kpc of the line of sight to a QSO observedwith the Faint Object Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope(HST). Including three galaxies in the field of 3C 273 investigated byprevious authors, we find that nine of 41 galaxies have associatedLyα absorption. If the identified Lyα absorption systems aregenuinely associated with the galaxies, then the covering factor of gasaround galaxies remains roughly constant at ~40% between 100 and 300h^-1^ kpc. Beyond 300 h^-1^ kpc, the incidence of absorption dropssharply. We conclude that (1) nearby galaxies do not possessLyα-absorbing halos beyond 300 h^-1^ kpc in radius and (2) thecovering factor of present-day galaxies between 50 and 300 h^-1^ kpc is44% at an equivalent width limit of W >= 0.3 A. For the nine galaxieswith associated Lyα absorption lines, differences in the galaxiessystemic velocities and the velocity of the absorption line, {DELTA}v,range over +/- 300 km s^-1^, consistent with the distribution found atredshifts > 0.1 by Lanzetta et al. and Le Brun, Bergeron, &Boisse. Values of {DELTA}v spanning several hundred km s^-1^ areprobably real for some of the QSO-galaxy pairs, however, and do notsimply arise from errors in measuring cz_gal_ or cz_abs_. This suggeststhat the absorbing clouds are kinematically tied to the galaxy disks andthat the distribution of {DELTA}v may arise because of the effects ofgalaxy inclination. We find no evidence for a correlation betweenLyα equivalent width and galaxy line-of-sight separation, whichweakens the argument that the identified galaxies are directlyassociated with the Lyα lines. Also, we find that absorption doesnot arise only from bright galaxies, since there are several examples inwhich low-luminosity galaxies apparently cause absorption. Yet we showthat the absorbing halos around galaxies cannot be independent of galaxyluminosity because if all low- redshift galaxies were surrounded byextended halos, the number of Lyα absorption systems found in HSTspectra would be much larger than has recently been determined. Thisresult leads us to question whether the galaxies are actuallyresponsible for the Lyα absorption lines or whether theassociation in redshift is fortuitous. Our results support the picturesuggested by others that Lyα lines arise in filaments or sheetsthat connect and contain the overdense regions that galaxies inhabit.This conclusion, however, remains at odds with the results of Lanzettaet al., who find that Lyα systems are more intimately linked withgalaxies. It may be, therefore, that we are seeing an evolution of theway in which Ly& lines associate with galaxies over the last fewbillion years. We suggest that at least some of the Lyα cloudsthat are not associated with galaxies at z ~ 0.5 have been slowlymerging with galaxies over time, creating larger but less uniform gasdistributions around the galaxies we see today.
| 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.
| 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.
| Dwarf galaxies in the Virgo cluster. II - Photometric techniques and basic data
Results are presented of photographic surface photometry carried out for305 (mostly dwarf) galaxies in the Virgo cluster, in which the galaxyimages were digitized on 14 of the 67 du Pont plates used for the Virgocluster survey. Azimuthally averaged surface brightness profiles areshown for all galaxies. The following model-free photometric parametersare derived and listed for each galaxy: total apparent blue magnitude,mean effective radius and surface brightness, and various isophotalradii, ellipticity, and position angle. Most galaxies were fitted by anexponential form and/or a King model profile. The best-fittingparameters, including the 'nuclear' (central residual) magnitudes fordE+dS0 galaxies, are listed.
| The kinematics of the Virgo cluster revisited
The paper updates the velocity data of Virgo cluster galaxies andreconsiders the kinematic structure of the Virgo cluster. New velocitiesare given for 144 galaxies listed in the Virgo Cluster Catalog (VCC).Improved velocities are given for another 131 VCC galaxies. The Virgocluster is disentangled from its surrounding clouds of galaxies, and thelikely members of each of these clouds are listed. The velocitydistribution of dwarf elliptical cluster members is found to be highlyasymmetric. This phenomenon is interpreted as evidence for the imminentmerging of two subclusters in the core region, which points to thedynamical youth of the Virgo cluster. The mean heliocentric velocity ofthe Virgo cluster is estimated at 1050 +/- 35 km/s.
| H I detection survey of a complete magnitude-limited sample of dwarf irregular galaxies in the Virgo Cluster area
New single-beam Arecibo H I observations of 298 late-type galaxies inthe Virgo Cluster drawn mostly from the new catalog of Binggeli,Sandage, and Tammann (1985) are presented. Two hundred seventeen ofthese constitute a magnitude-limited 'complete sample' of such galaxies,types Sdm through Im and BCD. Sixty-one percent of this 'completesample' was detected, greatly enhancing the store of redshifts and H Imasses for such galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. For detected galaxies,heliocentric velocities, 50 percent profile widths, and single-beamfluxes are presented. For those that escaped detection, upper limits arecomputed to the flux appropriate to the redshift range (-600 to +3000km/s).
| Studies of the Virgo Cluster. II - A catalog of 2096 galaxies in the Virgo Cluster area.
The present catalog of 2096 galaxies within an area of about 140 sq degapproximately centered on the Virgo cluster should be an essentiallycomplete listing of all certain and possible cluster members,independent of morphological type. Cluster membership is essentiallydecided by galaxy morphology; for giants and the rare class of highsurface brightness dwarfs, membership rests on velocity data. While 1277of the catalog entries are considered members of the Virgo cluster, 574are possible members and 245 appear to be background Zwicky galaxies.Major-to-minor axis ratios are given for all galaxies brighter than B(T)= 18, as well as for many fainter ones.
| A catalog of dwarf galaxies in Virgo
A catalog listing the location, apparent angular diameter, type,estimated central light concentration, and estimated brightness of 846dwarf galaxies in a 200-deg-sq region in Virgo is presented. Thegalaxies comprise 634 ellipticals, 137 IC-3475-type galaxies, 73 dwarfspirals and irregulars, and two objects which are jets of normalgalaxies, and were found on nine long-exposure IIIa-J-emulsion platesmade with the 1.2-m-Schmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory from 1971to 1976. Concordances to other catalogs, tables of additionalparameters, maps, graphs, and photographs are provided. The projecteddistributions of normal and dwarf galaxies and the dependence ofapparent luminosity on central light concentration are discussed. It isfound that dwarf ellipticals and IC-3475-type galaxies are probablemembers of the Virgo cluster, while dwarf spirals and possibly dwarfirregulars are not.
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