Ivânio Puerari

Lopsided spiral galaxies: evidence for gas accretion

We quantify the degree of lopsidedness for a sample of 149 galaxies observed in the near-infrared from the OSUBGS sample, and try to explain the physical origin of the observed disk lopsidedness. We confirm previous studies, but for a larger sample, that a large fraction of galaxies have significant lopsidedness in their stellar disks, measured as the Fourier amplitude of the m=1 component normalised to the average or m=0 component in the surface density. Late-type galaxies are found to be more lopsided, while the presence of m=2 spiral arms and bars is correlated with disk lopsidedness. We also show that the m=1 amplitude is uncorrelated with the presence of companions. Numerical simulations were carried out to study the generation of m=1 via different processes: galaxy tidal encounters, galaxy mergers, and external gas accretion with subsequent star formation. These simulations show that galaxy interactions and mergers can trigger strong lopsidedness, but do not explain several independent statistical properties of observed galaxies. To explain all the observational results, it is required that a large fraction of lopsidedness results from cosmological accretion of gas on galactic disks, which can create strongly lopsided disks when this accretion is asymmetrical enough.

Gravitational Bar and Spiral Arm Torques from Ks-band Observations and Implications for the Pattern Speeds

We have obtained deep near-infrared Ks-band William Herschel Telescope observations of a sample of 15 nearby spiral galaxies having a range of Hubble types and apparent bar strengths. The near-infrared light distributions are converted into gravitational potentials, and the maximum relative gravitational torques due to the bars and the spirals are estimated. We find that spiral strength, Qs, and bar strength, Qb, correlate well with other measures of spiral arm and bar amplitudes and that spiral and bar strengths also correlate well with each other. We also find a correlation between the position angle of the end of the bar and the position angle of the inner spiral. These correlations suggest that the bars and spirals grow together with the same rates and pattern speeds. We also show that the strongest bars tend to have the most open spiral patterns. Because open spirals imply high disk-to-halo mass ratios, bars and spirals most likely grow together as a combined disk instability. They stop growing for different reasons, however, giving the observed variation in bar-spiral morphologies. Bar growth stops because of saturation when most of the inner disk is in the bar, and spiral growth stops because of increased stability as the gas leaves and the outer disk heats up.

A Philosophical Perspective

The paper by Professor Ellis in this volume concludes the contributions from the world of science.

The gravitational torque of bars in optically unbarred and barred galaxies

The relative bar torques for 45 galaxies observed at K-band with the 4.2 m William Herschel Telescope are determined by transforming the light distributions into potentials and deriving the maximum ratios of the tangential forces relative to the radial forces. The results are combined with the bar torques for 30 other galaxies determined from our previous K-band survey (Buta & Block 2001). Relative bar torques determine the degree of spiral arm forcing, gas accretion, and bar evolution. They dier from other measures of bar strength, such as the relative amplitude of the bar determined photometrically, because they include the bulge and other disk light that contributes to the radial component of the total force. If the bulge is strong and the radial forcing large, then even a prominent bar can have a relatively weak influence on the azimuthal motions in the disk. Here we nd that the relative bar torque correlates only weakly with the optical bar type listed in the Revised Shapley-Ames and de Vaucouleurs systems. In fact, some classically barred galaxies have weaker relative bar torques than classically unbarred galaxies. The optical class is a poor measure of azimuthal disk forcing for two reasons: some infrared bars are not seen optically, and some bars with strong bulges have their azimuthal forces so strongly diluted by the average radial force that they exert only small torques on their disks. The Hubble classication scheme poorly recognizes the gravitational influence of bars. Applications of our bar torque method to the high-redshift universe are briefly discussed.

A Two-component Power Law Covering Nearly Four Orders of Magnitude in the Power Spectrum of Spitzer Far-infrared Emission from the Large Magellanic Cloud

Power spectra of Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) emission at 24, 70, and 160 ?m observed with the Spitzer Space Telescope have a two-component power-law structure with a shallow slope of ?1.6 at low wavenumber, k, and a steep slope of ?2.9 at high k. The break occurs at k ?1 ~ 100-200 pc, which is interpreted as the line-of-sight thickness of the LMC disk. The slopes are slightly steeper for longer wavelengths, suggesting the cooler dust emission is smoother than the hot emission. The power spectrum (PS) covers ~3.5 orders of magnitude, and the break in the slope is in the middle of this range on a logarithmic scale. Large-scale driving from galactic and extragalactic processes, including disk self-gravity, spiral waves, and bars, presumably causes the low-k structure in what is effectively a two-dimensional geometry. Small-scale driving from stellar processes and shocks causes the high-k structure in a three-dimensional geometry. This transition in dimensionality corresponds to the observed change in PS slope. A companion paper models the observed power law with a self-gravitating hydrodynamics simulation of a galaxy like the LMC.

DO BARS DRIVE SPIRAL DENSITY WAVES

We present deep near-infrared Ks -band Anglo-Australian Telescope Infrared Imager and Spectrograph observations of a selected sample of nearby barred spiral galaxies, including some with the strongest known bars. The sample covers a range of Hubble types from SB0– to SBc. The goal is to determine if the torque strengths of the spirals correlate with those of the bars, which might be expected if the bars actually drive the spirals as has been predicted by theoretical studies. This issue has implications for interpreting bar and spiral fractions at high redshift. Analysis of previous samples suggested that such a correlation exists in the near-infrared, where effects of extinction and star formation are less important. However, the earlier samples had only a few excessively strong bars. Our new sample largely confirms our previous studies, but still any correlation is relatively weak. We find two galaxies, NGC 7513 and UGC 10862, where there is only a weak spiral in the presence of a very strong bar. We suggest that some spirals probably are driven by their bars at the same pattern speed, but that this may be only when the bar is growing or if there is abundant gas and dissipation.

Very luminous carbon stars in the outer disk of the Triangulum spiral galaxy

Stars with masses in the range from about 1.3 to 3.5 M ○. pass through an evolutionary stage where they become carbon stars. In this stage, which lasts a few Myr, these stars are extremely luminous pulsating giants. They are so luminous in the near-infrared that just a few of them can double the integrated luminosity of intermediate-age (0.6 to 2 Gyr) Magellanic Cloud clusters at 2.2 microns. Astronomers routinely use such near-infrared observations to minimize the effects of dust extinction, but it is precisely in this band that carbon stars can contribute hugely. The actual contribution of carbon stars to the outer disk light of evolving spiral galaxies has not previously been morphologically investigated. Here we report new and very deep near-IR images of the Triangulum spiral galaxy M 33 = NGC 598, delineating spectacular arcs of carbon stars in its outer regions. It is these arcs which dominate the near-infrared m = 2 Fourier spectra of M 33. We present near-infrared photometry with the Hale 5-m reflector, and propose that the arcs are the signature of accretion of low metallicity gas in the outer disk of M 33.

THE BEHAVIOR OF THE PITCH ANGLE OF SPIRAL ARMS DEPENDING ON OPTICAL WAVELENGTH

Based on integral field spectroscopy data from the CALIFA survey, we investigate the possible dependence of spiral arm pitch angle with optical wavelength. For three of the five studied objects, the pitch angle gradually increases at longer wavelengths. This is not the case for two objects where the pitch angle remains constant. This result is confirmed by the analysis of SDSS data. We discuss the possible physical mechanisms to explain this phenomenon, as well as the implications of the results.

A NEW METHOD TO ESTIMATE LOCAL PITCH ANGLES IN SPIRAL GALAXIES: APPLICATION TO SPIRAL ARMS AND FEATHERS IN M81 AND M51

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The Hubble Tuning Fork Strikes a New Note

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