Ortwin Gerhard

Dynamical Family Properties and Dark Halo Scaling Relations of Giant Elliptical Galaxies

Based on a uniform dynamical analysis of the line-pro—le shapes of 21 mostly luminous, slowly rotating, and nearly round elliptical galaxies, we have investigated the dynamical family relations and dark halo properties of ellipticals. Our results include: (i) The circular velocity curves (CVCs) of elliptical galaxies are —at to within ^10% for (ii) Most ellipticals are moderately radially anisotropic; R Z 0.2R e . their dynamical structure is surprisingly uniform. (iii) Elliptical galaxies follow a Tully-Fisher (TF) relation with marginally shallower slope than spiral galaxies, and km s~1 for an galaxy. At

THE RADIAL VELOCITY EXPERIMENT (RAVE): FOURTH DATA RELEASE

We present the stellar atmospheric parameters (effective temperature, surface gravity, overall metallicity), radial velocities, individual abundances, and distances determined for 425,561 stars, which constitute the fourth public data release of the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE). The stellar atmospheric parameters are computed using a new pipeline, based on the algorithms of MATISSE and DEGAS. The spectral degeneracies and the Two Micron All Sky Survey photometric information are now better taken into consideration, improving the parameter determination compared to the previous RAVE data releases. The individual abundances for six elements (magnesium, aluminum, silicon, titanium, iron, and nickel) are also given, based on a special-purpose pipeline that is also improved compared to that available for the RAVE DR3 and Chemical DR1 data releases. Together with photometric information and proper motions, these data can be retrieved from the RAVE collaboration Web site and the Vizier database.

THE SINS SURVEY: MODELING THE DYNAMICS OF z ∼ 2 GALAXIES AND THE HIGH-z TULLY-FISHER RELATION*

We present the modeling of SINFONI integral field dynamics of 18 star-forming galaxies at z ~ 2 from Hα line emission. The galaxies are selected from the larger sample of the SINS survey, based on the prominence of ordered rotational motions with respect to more complex merger-induced dynamics. The quality of the data allows us to carefully select systems with kinematics dominated by rotation, and to model the gas dynamics across the whole galaxy using suitable exponential disk models. We obtain a good correlation between the dynamical mass and the stellar mass, finding that large gas fractions (M gas ≈ M *) are required to explain the difference between the two quantities. We use the derived stellar mass and maximum rotational velocity V max from the modeling to construct for the first time the stellar mass Tully-Fisher relation at z ~ 2.2. The relation obtained shows a slope similar to what is observed at lower redshift, but we detect an evolution of the zero point. We find that at z ~ 2.2 there is an offset in log(M *) for a given rotational velocity of 0.41 ± 0.11 with respect to the local universe. This result is consistent with the predictions of the latest N-body/hydrodynamical simulations of disk formation and evolution, which invoke gas accretion onto the forming disk in filaments and cooling flows. This scenario is in agreement with other dynamical evidence from SINS, where gas accretion from the halo is required to reproduce the observed properties of a large fraction of the z ~ 2 galaxies. Based on observations obtained at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory, Paranal, Chile, in the context of guaranteed time programs 073.B-9018, 074.A-9011, 075.A-0466, 076.A-0527, 077.A-0576, 078.A-0600, 078.A-0055, 079.A-0341, 080.A-0330, and 080.A-0635.

Gas physics, disk fragmentation, and bulge formation in young galaxies

We investigate the evolution of star-forming gas-rich disks, using a 3D chemodynamical model including a dark halo, stars, and a two-phase interstellar medium with feedback processes from the stars. We show that galaxy evolution proceeds along very different routes depending on whether it is the gas disk or the stellar disk which first becomes unstable, as measured by the respective Q-parameters. This in turn depends on the uncertain efficiency of energy dissipation of the cold cloud component from which stars form. When the cold gas cools efficiently and drives the instability, the galactic disk fragments and forms a number of massive clumps of stars and gas. The clumps spiral to the center of the galaxy in a few dynamical times and merge there to form a central bulge component in a strong starburst. When the kinetic energy of the cold clouds is dissipated at a lower rate, stars form from the gas in a more quiescent mode, and an instability only sets in at later times, when the surface density of the stellar disk has grown sufficiently high. The system then forms a stellar bar, which channels gas into the center, evolves, and forms a bulge whose stars are the result of a more extended star formation history. We investigate the stability of the gas-stellar disks in both regimes, as well as the star formation rates and element enrichment. We study the morphology of the evolving disks, calculating spatially resolved colours from the distribution of stars in age and metallicity, including dust absorption. We then discuss morphological observations such as clumpy structures and chain galaxies at high redshift as possible signatures of fragmenting, gas-rich disks. Finally, we investigate abundance ratio distributions as a means to distinguish the different scenarios of bulge formation.

GAS DYNAMICS AND LARGE-SCALE MORPHOLOGY OF THE MILKY WAY GALAXY

We present a new model for the gas dynamics in the galactic disc inside the orbit of the Sun. Quasi-equilibrium flow solutions are determined in the gravitational potential of the deprojected COBE near-infrared bar and disc, complemented by a central cusp and, in some models, an outer halo. These models generically lead to four-armed spiral structure between corotation of the bar and the solar circle; their large-scale morphology is not sensitive to the precise value of the pattern speed of the bar, to the orientation of the bar with respect to the observer, or to whether or not the spiral arms carry mass. Our best model provides a coherent interpretation of many observed gas dynamical features. Its four-armed spiral structure outside corotation reproduces quantitatively the directions to the five main spiral arm tangents at |l|≤60 observed in a variety of tracers. The 3-kpc arm is identified with one of the model arms emanating from the ends of the bar, extending into the corotation region. The model features an inner gas disc with a cusped orbit shock transition to an x2 orbit disc of radius R∼150 pc. The corotation radius of the bar is fairly well constrained at Rc≃3.5±0.5 kpc. The best value for the orientation angle of the bar is probably 20--25, but the uncertainty is large since no detailed quantitative fit to all features in the observed (l,v) diagrams is yet possible. The Galactic terminal velocity curve from H I and CO observations out to l≃±45 (∼5 kpc) is approximately described by a maximal disc model with constant mass-to-light ratio for the near-infrared bulge and disc.

The Galaxy in Context: Structural, Kinematic, and Integrated Properties

Our Galaxy, the Milky Way, is a benchmark for understanding disk galaxies. It is the only galaxy whose formation history can be studied using the full distribution of stars from faint dwarfs to supergiants. The oldest components provide us with unique insight into how galaxies form and evolve over billions of years. The Galaxy is a luminous (L⋆) barred spiral with a central box/peanut bulge, a dominant disk, and a diffuse stellar halo. Based on global properties, it falls in the sparsely populated “green valley” region of the galaxy color-magnitude diagram. Here we review the key integrated, structural and kinematic parameters of the Galaxy, and point to uncertainties as well as directions for future progress. Galactic studies will continue to play a fundamental role far into the future because there are measurements that can only be made in the near field and much of contemporary astrophysics depends on such observations.

Spiral arms, bar shape and bulge microlensing in the Milky Way

A new model for the luminosity distribution in the inner Milky Way is found, using a non-parametric penalized maximum-likelihood algorithm to deproject a dereddened COBE/ DIRBE L-band map of the inner Galaxy. The model isalso constrained by the apparent magnitude (line-of-sight) distributions of clump giant stars in certain bulge fields. An important new feature is the inclusion of a spiral arm model in the disc. Spiral arms make the model appear broader on the sky; thus our bar is more elongated than in previous eight-fold symmetric models. They also lead to a smoother disc model interior to the Sun. The bar length is 3.5 kpc, and its axis ratios are 1: (0.3-0.4): 0.3, independent of whether the spiral arm model is four-armed or two-armed. The larger elongation in the plane makes it possible to reproduce the observed clump giant distributions as well. With only the surface brightness data, a small model degeneracy is found even for fixed orientation of the bar, amounting to about ′0.1 uncertainty in the in-plane axial ratio. Including the clump giant data removes most of this degeneracy and also places additional constraints on the orientation angle of the bar. We estimate 15° ≤ φ b a r ≤ 30°, with the best models obtained for 20° ≤ φ b a r ≤ 25°. We use our reference model to predict a microlensing optical depth map towards the bulge, normalizing its mass by the observed terminal velocity curve. For clump giant sources at (l,b) = (3°.9, -3°.8) we find τ - 6 ≡ τ/10 - 6 = 1.27, within 1.8σ of the new MACHO measurement given by Popowski et al. The value for all sources at (l, b) = (2°.68, -3°.35) is τ-6 = 1.1, still >3σ away from the published MACHO DIA value. The dispersion of these τ - 6 values within our models is ≃ 10 per cent. Because the distribution of sources is well fitted by the near-infrared model, increasing the predicted optical depths by >20 per cent will be difficult. Thus the high value of the measured clump giant optical depth argues for a near-maximal disc in the Milky Way.

Kinematic properties of early-type galaxy haloes using planetary nebulae★

We present new planetary nebulae (PNe) positions, radial velocities and magnitudes for six early-type galaxies obtained with the Planetary Nebulae Spectrograph (PNS), along with derived two-dimensional velocity and velocity dispersion fields, and the α parameters (i.e. the number of PNe per unit luminosity). We also present new deep absorption-line long-slit kinematics for three galaxies in the sample, obtained with the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph (FORS2) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT). We extend this study to include additional 10 early-type galaxies with PNe radial velocity measurements available from the literature, including previous PNS studies, in order to obtain a broader description of the outer-halo kinematics in early-type galaxies. These data extend the information derived from stellar absorption-line kinematics to typically several and up to 8 effective radii. The combination of photometry, absorption-line and PNe kinematics shows (i) a good agreement between the PNe number density distribution and the stellar surface brightness in the region where the two data sets overlap; (ii) a good agreement between PNe and absorption-line kinematics; (iii) that the mean rms velocity profiles fall into two groups, with part of the galaxies characterized by slowly decreasing profiles and the remainder having steeply falling profiles; (iv) a larger variety of velocity dispersion radial profiles; (v) that twists and misalignments in the velocity fields are more frequent at large radii, including some fast rotator galaxies; (vi) that outer haloes are characterized by more complex radial profiles of the specific angular momentum-related λ_R parameter than observed within 1 R_e; (vii) that many objects are more rotationally dominated at large radii than in their central parts and (viii) that the halo kinematics are correlated with other galaxy properties, such as total B band and X-ray luminosity, isophotal shape, total stellar mass, V/σ and α parameter, with a clear separation between fast and slow rotators. Based in part on observations made with the William Herschel Telescope operated by the Isaac Newton Group in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on the island of La Palma, of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, and on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Chile, Program: 76.B-0788(A). E-mail: lcoccato@mpe.mpg.de

The importance of mergers for the origin of intracluster stars in cosmological simulations of galaxy clusters

We study the origin of the diffuse stellar component (DSC) in 117 galaxy clusters extracted from a cosmological hydrodynamical simulation. We identify all galaxies present in the simulated clusters at 17 output redshifts, starting with z= 3.5, and then build the family trees for all the z= 0 cluster galaxies. The most massive cluster galaxies show complex family trees, resembling the merger trees of dark matter haloes, while the majority of other cluster galaxies experience only one or two major mergers during their entire life history. Then, for each diffuse star particle identified at z= 0, we look for the galaxy to which it once belonged at an earlier redshift, thus linking the presence of the DSC to the galaxy formation history. The main results of our analysis are as follows. (i) On average, half of the DSC star particles come from galaxies associated with the family tree of the most massive galaxy (bright cluster galaxy – hereafter BCG), one quarter comes from the family trees of other massive galaxies and the remaining quarter from dissolved galaxies. That is, the formation of the DSC is parallel to the build-up of the BCG and other massive galaxies. (ii) Most DSC star particles become unbound during mergers in the formation history of the BCGs and of other massive galaxies, independent of cluster mass. Our results suggest that the tidal stripping mechanism is responsible only for a minor fraction of the DSC. (iii) At cluster radii larger than 250 h−1 kpc, the DSC fraction from the BCG is reduced and the largest contribution comes from the other massive galaxies; in the cluster outskirts, galaxies of all masses contribute to the DSC. (iv) The DSC does not have a preferred redshift of formation: however, most DSC stars are unbound at z < 1. (v) The amount of DSC stars at z= 0 does not correlate strongly with the global dynamical history of clusters, and increases weakly with cluster mass.

Discovery of Nine Lya Emitters at Redshift z ~ 3.1 Using Narrowband Imaging and VLT Spectroscopy

Narrowband imaging surveys aimed at detecting the faint emission from the 5007 A [O III] line of intracluster planetary nebulae in Virgo also probe high-redshift z ~ 3.1 Lyα emitters. Here we report on the spectroscopic identification of nine Lyα emitters at z = 3.13 with fluxes between 2 × 10-17 and 2 × 10-16 ergs cm-2 s-1 obtained with the FORS spectrograph at Unit 1 of the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT UT1). The spectra of these high-redshift objects show a narrow, isolated Lyα emission with very faint (frequently undetected) continuum, indicating a large equivalent width. No other features are visible in our spectra. Our Lyα emitters are quite similar to those found by Hu, Cowie, and colleagues in 1998. For a flat universe with H0 = 70 km s-1 Mpc-1 and q0 = 0.5 (ΩΛ = 0), the Lyα luminosity of the brightest source is 1.7 × 109 L☉, and the comoving space density of the Lyα emitters in the searched volume is 5 × 10-3 Mpc-3. Using simple population synthesis models, on the assumption that these sources are regions of star formation, we conclude that the nebulae are nearly optically thick and must have a very low dust content in order to explain the high observed Lyα equivalent widths. For the cosmological and star formation parameters we adopted, the total stellar mass produced would seem to correspond to the formation of rather small galaxies, some of which are perhaps destined to merge. However, one of our sources might become a serious candidate for a protogiant spheroidal galaxy if we assumed continuous star formation, a low mass cutoff of 0.1 M☉ in the initial mass function (IMF), and a flat accelerating universe with Ω0 = 0.2 and ΩΛ = 0.8. The implied star formation density in our sampled comoving volume is probably somewhat smaller than, but of the same order of magnitude as, the star formation density at z ~ 3 derived by other authors from Lyman break galaxy surveys. This result agrees with the expectation that the Lyα emitters are a low-metallicity (or low-dust) tail in a distribution of star-forming regions at high redshifts. Finally, the Lyα emitters may contribute as many H-ionizing photons as QSOs at z ~ 3. They are therefore potentially significant for the ionization budget of the early universe.