A. V. Moiseev

The SCORPIO Universal Focal Reducer of the 6-m Telescope

We describe the SCORPIO focal reducer that has been used since the fall of 2000 for observations on the 6-m Special Astrophysical Observatory telescope. We give parameters of the instrument in various observing modes (direct images, long-slit and multislit spectroscopy, spectropolarimetry, Fabry-Perot panoramic spectroscopy). Observations of various astronomical objects are used as examples to demonstrate the SCORPIO capabilities.We describe the SCORPIO focal reducer that has been used since the fall of 2000 for observations on the 6-m Special Astrophysical Observatory telescope. We give parameters of the instrument in various observing modes (direct imaging, long-slit and multislit spectroscopy, spectropolarimetry, Fabry-Perot panoramic spectroscopy). Observations of various astronomical objects are used as examples to demonstrate the SCORPIO capabilities.

The extraordinarily bright optical afterglow of GRB 991208 and its host galaxy

Broad-band optical observations of the extraordi- narily bright optical afterglow of the intense gamma-ray burst GRB 991208 started � 2.1 days after the event and continued until 4 Apr 2000. The flux decay constant of the optical after- glow in the R-band is 2.30 ± 0.07 up to � 5 days, which

Structure and kinematics of candidate double-barred galaxies

Results of optical and NIR spectral and photometric observations of a sample of candidate double-barred galaxies are presented. Velocity fields and velocity dispersion maps of stars and ionized gas, continuum and emission-line images were constructed from integral-field spectroscopy observations carried out at the 6 m telescope (BTA) of SAO RAS, with the MPFS spectrograph and the scanning Fabry-Perot Interferometer. NGC 2681 was also observed with the long-slit spectrograph of the BTA. Optical and NIR images were obtained at the BTA and at the 2.1 m telescope (OAN, Mexico). High-resolution images were retrieved from the HST data archive. Morphological and kinematic features of all 13 sample objects are described in detail. Attention is focused on the interpretation of observed non-circular motions of gas and stars in circumnuclear (one kiloparsec-scale) regions. We have shown first of all that these motions are caused by the gravitational potential of a large-scale bar. NGC 3368 and NGC 3786 have nuclear bars only, their isophotal twist at larger radii being connected with the bright spiral arms. Three cases of inner polar disks in our sample (NGC 2681, NGC 3368 and NGC 5850) are considered. We found ionized-gas counter-rotation in the central kiloparsec of the lenticular galaxy NGC 3945. Seven galaxies (NGC 470, NGC 2273, NGC 2681, NGC 3945, NGC 5566, NGC 5905, and NGC 6951) have inner mini-disks nested in large-scale bars. Minispiral structures occur often in these nuclear disks. It is interesting that the majority of the observed, morphological and kinematical, features in the sample galaxies can be explained without the secondary bar hypothesis. Thus we suggest that a dynamically independent secondary bar is a rarer phenomenon than follows from isophotal analysis of the images only.

The CASSOWARY spectroscopy survey: A new sample of gravitationally lensed galaxies in SDSS

Bright gravitationally lensed galaxies provide our most detailed view of galaxies at high redshift. The very brightest (r < 21) systems enable high spatial and spectral resolution measurements, offering unique constraints on the outflow energetics, metallicity gradients and stellar populations in high-redshift galaxies. Yet as a result of the small number of ultrabright z ≃ 2 lensed systems with confirmed redshifts, most detailed spectroscopic studies have been limited in their scope. With the goal of increasing the number of bright lensed galaxies available for detailed follow-up, we have undertaken a spectroscopic campaign targeting wide separation (≳3 arcsec) galaxy–galaxy lens candidates within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Building on the earlier efforts of our Cambridge and Sloan Survey Of Wide Arcs in Thesky survey, we target a large sample of candidate galaxy–galaxy lens systems in SDSS using a well-established search algorithm which identifies blue arc-like structures situated around luminous red galaxies. In this paper, we present a new redshift catalogue containing 29 lensed sources in SDSS confirmed through spectroscopic follow-up of candidate galaxy–galaxy lens systems. Included in this new sample are two of the brightest galaxies (r = 19.6 and 19.7) known at z ≃ 2, a low metallicity (12 + log (O/H) ≃ 8.0) extreme nebular line emitting galaxy at z = 1.43, and numerous systems for which detailed follow-up will be possible. The source redshifts span 0.9 < z < 2.5 (median redshift of 1.9), and their optical magnitudes are in the range 19.6 ≲ r ≲ 22.3. We present a brief source-by-source discussion of the spectroscopic properties extracted from our confirmatory spectra and discuss some initial science results. Preliminary lens modelling reveals average source magnifications of 5–10 times. With more than 50 gravitationally lensed z ≳ 1 galaxies now confirmed within SDSS, it will soon be possible for the first time to develop generalized conclusions from detailed spectroscopic studies of the brightest lensed systems at high redshift.

The MASTER-II network of robotic optical telescopes. First results

The main stages in the creation of the Russian segment of the MASTER network of robotic telescopes is described. This network is designed for studies of the prompt optical emission of gammaray bursts (GRBs; optical emission synchronous with the gamma-ray radiation) and surveys of the sky aimed at discovering uncataloged objects and photometric studies for various programs. The first results obtained by the network, during its construction and immediately after its completion in December 2010, are presented. Eighty-nine alert pointings at GRBs (in most cases, being the first ground telescopes to point at the GRBs) were made from September 2006 through July 2011. The MASTER network holds first place in the world in terms of the total number of first pointings, and currently more than half of first pointings at GRBs by ground telescopes are made by the MASTER network. Photometric light curves of GRB 091020, GRB 091127, GRB 100901A, GRB 100906A, GRB 10925A, GRB 110106A, GRB 110422A, and GRB 110530A are presented. It is especially important that prompt emission was observed for GRB 100901A and GRB 100906A, and thar GRB 091127, GRB 110422A, and GRB 110106A were observed from the first seconds in two polarizations. Very-wide-field cameras carried out synchronous observations of the prompt emission of GRB 081102, GRB 081130B, GRB 090305B, GRB 090320B, GRB 090328, and GRB 090424. Discoveries of Type Ia supernovae are ongoing (among them the brightest supernova in 2009): 2008gy, 2009nr, 2010V, and others. In all, photometry of 387 supernovae has been carried out, 43 of which were either discovered or first observed with MASTER telescopes; more than half of these are Type Ia supernovae. Photometric studies of the open clusters NGC 7129 and NGC 7142 have been conducted, leading to the discovery of 38 variable stars. Sixty-nine optical transients have been discovered.

The Leo I Cloud: Secular Nuclear Evolution of NGC 3379, NGC 3384, and NGC 3368?

The central regions of the three brightest members of the Leo I galaxy group—NGC 3368, NGC 3379, and NGC 3384—are investigated by means of two-dimensional spectroscopy. In all three galaxies we have found separate circumnuclear stellar and gaseous subsystems—more probably, disks—whose spatial orientations and spins are connected to the spatial orientation of the supergiant intergalactic H I ring reported previously by Schneider et al. and Schneider. In NGC 3368 the global gaseous disk seems also to be inclined to the symmetry plane of the stellar body, being probably of external origin. Although the rather young mean stellar age and spatial orientations of the circumnuclear disks in NGC 3379, NGC 3384, and NGC 3368 could imply their recent formation from material of the intergalactic H I cloud, the timescale of these secondary formation events, on the order of 3 Gyr, does not support the collision scenario of Rood & Williams but is rather in line with the ideas of Schneider regarding tidal interactions of the galaxies with the H I cloud on timescales of the intergroup orbital motions.

What controls the ionized gas turbulent motions in dwarf galaxies

Using 3D spectroscopy with a scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer, we study the ionized gas kinematics in 59 nearby dwarf galaxies. Combining our results with data from literature, we provide a global relation between the gas velocity dispersion (sigma) and the star formation rate (SFR) and H\alpha luminosity for galaxies in a very broad range of star formation rates SFR=0.001-300 Msun/yr. We find that the SFR-sigma relation for the combined sample of dwarf galaxies, star forming, local luminous, and ultra-luminous infrared galaxies can be fitted as sigma~ SFR^(5.3+-0.2). This implies that the slope of the L-sigma relation inferred from the sample of rotation supported disc galaxies (including mergers) is similar to the L-sigma relation of individual giant HII regions. We present arguments that the velocity dispersion of the ionized gas does not reflect the virial motions in the gravitational potential of dwarf galaxies, and instead is mainly determined by the energy injected into the interstellar medium by the ongoing star formation.

Reduction of CCD Observations Made with the Fabry-Perot Scanning Interferometer. II. Additional Procedures

We describe a software package used at the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences to reduce and analyze the data obtained with the Fabry-Perot scanning interferometer. We already described most of the algorithms employed in our earlier paper [1]. In this paper we focus on extra procedures required in the case of the use of a high-resolution Fabry-Perot interferometer: removal of ghosts and measurement of the velocity dispersion of ionized gas in galactic and extragalactic objects.

Nature of Nuclear Rings in Unbarred Galaxies: NGC 7742 and NGC 7217

We have studied an unbarred Sb galaxy with a nuclear star-forming ring, NGC 7742, by means of two-dimensional spectroscopy, long-slit spectroscopy, and imaging and have compared the results with the properties of another galaxy of this type, NGC 7217, which was studied by us earlier. Both galaxies have many peculiar features in common: each has two global exponential stellar disks with different scale lengths, each possesses a circumnuclear inclined gaseous disk with a radius of 300 pc, and each has a global counterrotating subsystem, a gaseous one in NGC 7742 and a stellar one in NGC 7217. We suggest that a past minor merger is the probable cause of all these peculiarities, including the appearance of nuclear star-forming rings without global bars; the rings might be produced as resonance features by tidally induced oval distortions of the global stellar disks.

HST IMAGING OF FADING AGN CANDIDATES. I. HOST-GALAXY PROPERTIES AND ORIGIN OF THE EXTENDED GAS*

We present narrow- and medium-band HST imaging, with additional supporting ground-based data, for 8 galaxies identified as hosting fading AGN. These have AGN-ionized gas projected >10 kpc from the nucleus, and significant shortfall of ionizing radiation between the distant gas and the AGN, indicating fading AGN on ~50,000-year timescales. Every system shows evidence of ongoing or past interactions; a similar sample of obscured AGN with extended ionized clouds shares this incidence of disturbances. Several systems show multiple dust lanes in different orientations, broadly fit by differentially precessing disks of accreted material ~1.5 Gyr after initial arrival. The gas has lower metallicity than the nuclei; three systems have abundances uniformly well below solar, consistent with an origin in tidally disrupted low-luminosity galaxies, while some systems have more nearly solar abundances (accompanied by such signatures as multiple Doppler components), which may suggest redistribution of gas by outflows within the host galaxies themselves. These aspects are consistent with a tidal origin for the extended gas in most systems, although the ionized gas and stellar tidal features do not always match closely. In contrast to clouds near radio-loud AGN, these are dominated by rotation, in some cases in warped disks. Outflows are important only in localized regions near some of the AGN. In UGC 7342 and UGC 11185, luminous star clusters are seen within projected ionization cones, potentially triggered by outflows. As in the discovery example Hannys Voorwerp/IC 2497, some clouds lack a strong correlation between H-alpha surface brightness and ionization parameter, indicating unresolved fine structure. Together with thin coherent filaments spanning several kpc, persistence of these structures over their orbital lifetimes may require a role for magnetic confinement. (Abridged)