Gary Wegner

Spectroscopy and photometry of elliptical galaxies. I: a new distance estimator

On presente des donnees cinematiques et photometriques concernant 97 galaxies elliptiques, membres de six amas riches

Spatially resolved spectroscopy of Coma cluster early-type galaxies - III. The stellar population gradients

Based on Paper I of this series (Mehlert et al. 2000), we derive central values and logarithmic gradients for the H, Mg and Fe indices of 35 early-type galaxies in the Coma cluster. We find that pure elliptical galaxies have on average slightly higher velocity dispersions, lower H, and higher metallic line-strengths than galaxies with disks (S0). The latter form two families, one comparable to the ellipticals and a second one with significantly higher H, and weaker metallic lines. Our measured logarithmic gradients within the eective radius areh4Mg b i 0:037,h4hFeii 0:029,h4H i+0:017 and h4i 0:063. The gradients strongly correlate with the gradients of , but only weakly with the central index values and galaxy velocity dispersion. Using stellar population models with variable element abundance ratios from Thomas et al. (2003a) we derive average ages, metallicities and (=Fe) ratios in the center and at the eective radius. We find that the =Fe ratio correlates with velocity dispersion and drives 30% of the Mg- relation, the remaining 70% being caused by metallicity variations. We confirm previous findings that part of the lenticular galaxies in the Coma cluster host very young (2 Gyr) stellar populations, hence must have experienced relatively recent star formation episodes. Again in accordance with previous work we derive negative metallicity gradients ( 0:16 dex per decade) that are significantly flatter than what is expected from gaseous monolithic collapse models, pointing to the importance of mergers in the galaxy formation history. Moreover, the metallicity gradients correlate with the velocity dispersion gradients, confirming empirically earlier suggestions that the metallicity gradient in ellipticals is produced by the local potential well. The gradients in age are negligible, implying that no significant residual star formation has occurred either in the center or in the outer parts of the galaxies, and that the stellar populations at dierent radii must have formed at a common epoch. For the first time we derive the gradients of the =Fe ratio and find them very small on average. Hence, =Fe enhancement is not restricted to galaxy centers but it is a global phenomenon. Our results imply that the Mg- local relation inside a galaxy, unlike the global Mg- relation, must be primarily driven by metallicity variations alone. Finally we note that none of the stellar population parameters or their gradients depend on the density profile of the Coma cluster, even though it spans 3 dex in density.

The Quadruple Gravitational Lens PG 1115+080: Time Delays and Models

Optical photometry is presented for the quadruple gravitational lens PG 1115+080. A preliminary reduction of data taken from 1995 November to 1996 June gives component C leading component B by 23.7 ? 3.4 days and components A1 and A2 by 9.4 days. A range of models has been fitted to the image positions, none of which gives an adequate fit. The best-fitting and most physically plausible of these, taking the lensing galaxy and the associated group of galaxies to be singular isothermal spheres, gives a Hubble constant of 42 km s-1 Mpc-1 for ? = 1, with an observational uncertainty of 14%, as computed from the B - C time delay measurement. Taking the lensing galaxy to have an approximately E5 isothermal mass distribution yields H0 = 64 km s-1 Mpc-1, while taking the galaxy to be a point mass gives H0 = 84 km s-1 Mpc-1. The former gives a particularly bad fit to the position of the lensing galaxy, while the latter is inconsistent with measurements of nearby galaxy rotation curves. Constraints on these and other possible models are expected to improve with planned Hubble Space Telescope observations.

The i-band tully-fisher relation for cluster galaxies: a template relation, its scatter and bias corrections

Infrared I band photometry and velocity widths for galaxies in 24 clusters, with radial velocities between 1,000 and 10,000 \kms, are used to construct a template Tully--Fisher (TF) relation. The sources of scatter in the TF diagram are analyzed in detail; it is shown that the common practice of referring to a single figure of TF scatter is incorrect and can lead to erroneous bias corrections. Biases resulting from sample incompleteness, catalog inaccuracies, cluster size and other sources, as well as dependences of TF parameters on morphological type and local environment, are discussed and appropriate corrections are obtained. A template TF relation is constructed by combining the data from the 24 clusters, and kinematic cluster offsets from a putative reference frame which well approximates null velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background, are obtained.

The I band Tully-Fisher relation for cluster galaxies: data presentation.

Observational parameters which can be used for redshift-independent distance determination using the Tully-Fisher (TF) technique are given for 782 spiral galaxies in the fields of 24 clusters or groups. I band photometry for the full sample was either obtained by us or compiled from published literature. Rotational velocities are derived either from 21 cm spectra or optical emission line long--slit spectra, and converted to a homogeneous scale. In addition to presenting the data, a discussion of the various sources of error on TF parameters is introduced, and the criteria for the assignment of membership to each cluster are given. The construction of a TF template, bias corrections and cluster motions are discussed in an accompanying paper.

Dynamical modelling of luminous and dark matter in 17 Coma early-type galaxies

Dynamical models for 17 early-type galaxies in the Coma cluster are presented. The galaxy sample consists of flattened, rotating as well as non-rotating early-types including cD and S0 galaxies with luminosities between MB = 18.79 and MB = 22.56. Kinematical long-slit observations cover at least the major and minor axis and extend to 1 4 reff. Axisymmetric Schwarzschild models are used to derive stellar mass-tolight ratios and dark halo parameters. In every galaxy the best fit with dark matter matches the data better than the best fit without. The statistical significance is over 95 percent for 8 galaxies, around 90 percent for 5 galaxies and for four galaxies it is not significant. For the highly significant cases systematic deviations between observed and modelled kinematics are clearly seen; for the remaining galaxies differences are more statistical in nature. Best-fit models contain 10-50 percent dark matter inside the half-light radius. The central dark matter density is at least one order of magnitude lower than the luminous mass density, independent of the assumed dark matter density profile. The central phase-space density of dark matter is often orders of magnitude lower than in the luminous component, especially when the halo core radius is large. The orbital system of the stars along the major-axis is slightly dominated by radial motions. Some galaxies show tangential anisotropy along the minor-axis, which is correlated with the minor-axis Gauss-Hermite coefficientH4. Changing the balance between data-fit and regularisation constraints does not change the reconstructed mass structure significantly: model anisotropies tend to strengthen if the weight on regularisation is reduced, but the general property of a galaxy to be radially or tangentially anisotropic, respectively, does not change. This paper is aimed to set the basis for a subsequent detailed analysis of luminous and dark matter scaling relations, orbital dynamics and stellar populations.

Cluster versus Field Elliptical Galaxies and Clues on Their Formation

Using new observations for a sample of 931 early-type galaxies, we investigate whether the Mg2-σ0 relation shows any dependence on the local environment. The galaxies have been assigned to three different environments depending on the local overdensity (clusters, groups, and field); we used our complete redshift database to guide the assignment of galaxies. It is found that cluster, group, and field early-type galaxies follow almost identical Mg2-σ0 relations, with the largest Mg2 zero-point difference (clusters minus field) being only 0.007±0.002 mag. No correlation of the residuals is found with the morphological type or the bulge-to-disk ratio. Using stellar population models in a differential fashion, this small zero-point difference implies a luminosity-weighted age difference of only ~1 Gyr between the corresponding stellar populations, with field galaxies being younger. The mass-weighted age difference could be significantly smaller if minor events of late star formation took place preferentially in field galaxies. We combine these results with the existing evidence for the bulk of stars in cluster early-type galaxies having formed at very high redshift and conclude that the bulk of stars in galactic spheroids had to form at high redshifts (z3), no matter whether such spheroids now reside in low- or high-density regions. The cosmological implications of these findings are briefly discussed.

The I-Band Tully-Fisher Relation for Sc Galaxies: 21 Centimeter H I Line Data

A compilation of 21 cm line spectral parameters specifically designed for application of the Tully-Fisher (TF) distance method is presented for 1201 spiral galaxies, primarily field Sc galaxies, for which optical I-band photometric imaging is also available. New H I line spectra have been obtained for 881 galaxies. For an additional 320 galaxies, spectra available in a digital archive have been reexamined to allow application of a single algorithm for the derivation of the TF velocity width parameter. A velocity width algorithm is used that provides a robust measurement of rotational velocity and permits an estimate of the error on that width taking into account the effects of instrumental broadening and signal-to-noise. The digital data are used to establish regression relations between measurements of velocity widths using other common prescriptions so that comparable widths can be derived through conversion of values published in the literature. The uniform H I line widths presented here provide the rotational velocity measurement to be used in deriving peculiar velocities via the TF method.

Global Scaling Relations for Elliptical Galaxies and Implications for Formation

Two recent surveys of elliptical galaxy structural properties are described. E galaxies are seen to populate a planar distribution in the global logarithmic parameter space (R e , σ e , I e ). Two-dimensionality implies that the virial theorem is the only tight constraint on E structure. There is an additional, weaker constraint on radius versus mass that was presumably imposed at formation. The best-fitting plane in logarithmic coordinates has the equation R e ~ σ1.35±0.07 I e-0.84±0.03, implies (M/L) e ~L 0.24±0.04 I e 0.00±0.06. The planar relation can be used to determine distances to E galaxies to an accuracy of ±23%. M/Ls agree well, implying that ellipticals are mainly baryon dominated within R e and that M/Ls are stellar. The effects of other variables such as ellipticity, aspect angle, and rotation on the basic planar relation seem to be small.

The WARPS Survey. II. The log N-log S Relation and the X-Ray Evolution of Low-Luminosity Clusters of Galaxies

The strong negative evolution observed in previous X-ray-selected surveys of clusters of galaxies is evidence in favor of hierarchical models of the growth of structure in the universe. A large recent survey has, however, contradicted the low-redshift results, finding no evidence for evolution at z 0.3) the cluster luminosities are in the range 4 × 1043-2 × 1044 h−250 ergs s-1, the luminosities of poor clusters. The number of high-redshift, low-luminosity clusters is consistent with no evolution of the X-ray luminosity function between redshifts of z ≈ 0.4 and z = 0, and it places a limit of a factor of less than 1.7 (at 90% confidence) on the amplitude of any pure negative density evolution of clusters of these luminosities, in contrast with the factor of ≈ 3 [corresponding to number density evolution ∝(1 + z)-2.5] found in the Einstein Extended Medium-Sensitivity Survey at similar redshifts but higher luminosities. Taken together, these results support hierarchical models in which there is mild negative evolution of the most luminous clusters at high redshift, but little or no evolution of the less luminous but more common optically poor clusters. Models involving preheating of the X-ray gas at an early epoch fit the observations, at least for Ω0 = 1.