A galaxy overdensity at z = 0.401 associated with an X-ray emitting structure of warm-hot intergalactic medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mannucci, F.; Bonnoli, G.; Zappacosta, L.; Maiolino, R.; Pedani, M.

2007-06-01

We present the results of spectroscopic observations of galaxies associated with the diffuse X-ray emitting structure discovered by Zappacosta et al. (2002, A&A, 394, 7). After measuring the redshifts of 161 galaxies, we confirm an overdensity of galaxies with projected dimensions of at least 2 Mpc, determine its spectroscopic redshift in z = 0.401 ± 0.002, and show that it is spatially coincident with the diffuse X-ray emission. This confirms the original claim that this X-ray emission has an extragalactic nature and is due to the warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM). We used this value of the redshift to compute the temperature of the emitting gas. The resulting value depends on the metallicity that is assumed for the IGM, and is constrained to be between 0.3 and 0.6 keV for metallicities between 0.05 and 0.3 solar, in good agreement with the expectations from the WHIM. Based on observations made with the Italian Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), operated on the island of La Palma by the Fundación Galileo Galilei of the INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica), and with the William Hershel Telescope (WHT), operated by the ING, both at the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. Table 2 is only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/468/807

The effect of feedback on the emission properties of the warm-hot intergalactic medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roncarelli, M.; Cappelluti, N.; Borgani, S.; Branchini, E.; Moscardini, L.

2012-08-01

At present, 30-40 per cent of the baryons in the local Universe is still undetected. According to theoretical predictions, this gas should reside in filaments filling the large-scale structure (LSS) in the form of a warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM), at temperatures 105-107 K, thus emitting in the soft X-ray energies via free-free interaction and line emission from heavy elements. In this work, we characterize the properties of the X-ray emission of the WHIM, and the LSS in general, focusing on the influence of different physical mechanisms, namely galactic winds (GWs), black hole feedback and star formation, and providing estimates of possible observational constraints. To this purpose, we use a set of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations that include a self-consistent treatment of star formation and chemical enrichment of the intergalactic medium, which allows us to follow the evolution of different metal species. We construct a set of simulated light cones to make predictions of the emission in the 0.3-10 keV energy range. We obtain that GWs increase the emission of both galaxy clusters and WHIM by a factor of 2. The amount of oxygen at average temperature and, consequently, the amount of expected bright O VII and O VIII lines are increased by a factor of 3 due to GWs and by 20 per cent when assuming a top-heavy initial mass function. We compare our results with current observational constraints and find that the emission from faint groups and WHIM should account for half to all of the unresolved X-ray background in the 1-2 keV band.

Probing the Metal Enrichment of the Intergalactic Medium at z = 5–6 Using the Hubble Space Telescope

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cai, Zheng; Fan, Xiaohui; Dave, Romeel

We test the galactic outflow model by probing associated galaxies of four strong intergalactic C iv absorbers at z = 5–6 using the Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ) Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) ramp narrowband filters. The four strong C iv absorbers reside at z = 5.74, 5.52, 4.95, and 4.87, with column densities ranging from N {sub Civ} = 10{sup 13.8} to 10{sup 14.8} cm{sup −2}. At z = 5.74, we detect an i-dropout Ly α emitter (LAE) candidate with a projected impact parameter of 42 physical kpc from the C iv absorber. This LAE candidate has amore » Ly α -based star formation rate (SFR{sub Lyα} ) of 2 M {sub ⊙} yr{sup −1} and a UV-based SFR of 4 M {sub ⊙} yr{sup −1}. Although we cannot completely rule out that this i-dropout emitter may be an [O ii] interloper, its measured properties are consistent with the C iv powered galaxy at z = 5.74. For C iv absorbers at z = 4.95 and z = 4.87, although we detect two LAE candidates with impact parameters of 160 and 200 kpc, such distances are larger than that predicted from the simulations. Therefore, we treat them as nondetections. For the system at z = 5.52, we do not detect LAE candidates, placing a 3 σ upper limit of SFR{sub Lyα} ≈ 1.5 M {sub ⊙} yr{sup −1}. In summary, in these four cases, we only detect one plausible C iv source at z = 5.74. Combining the modest SFR of the one detection and the three nondetections, our HST observations strongly support that smaller galaxies (SFR{sub Lyα} ≲ 2 M {sub ⊙} yr{sup −1}) are main sources of intergalactic C iv absorbers, and such small galaxies play a major role in the metal enrichment of the intergalactic medium at z ≳ 5.« less

X-RAY ABSORPTION BY THE WARM-HOT INTERGALACTIC MEDIUM IN THE HERCULES SUPERCLUSTER

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ren, Bin; Fang, Taotao; Buote, David A., E-mail: fangt@xmu.edu.cn

2014-02-10

''Missing baryons'', in the form of warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM), are expected to reside in cosmic filamentary structures that can be traced by signposts such as large-scale galaxy superstructures. The clear detection of an X-ray absorption line in the Sculptor Wall demonstrated the success of using galaxy superstructures as a signpost to search for the WHIM. Here we present an XMM -Newton Reflection Grating Spectrometer observation of the blazar Mkn 501, located in the Hercules Supercluster. We detected an O VII Kα absorption line at the 98.7% level (2.5σ) at the redshift of the foreground Hercules Supercluster. The derived properties of themore » absorber are consistent with theoretical expectations of the WHIM. We discuss the implication of our detection for the search for the ''missing baryons''. While this detection shows again that using signposts is a very effective strategy to search for the WHIM, follow-up observations are crucial both to strengthen the statistical significance of the detection and to rule out other interpretations. A local, z ∼ 0 O VII Kα absorption line was also clearly detected at the 4σ level, and we discuss its implications for our understanding of the hot gas content of our Galaxy.« less

Observing Interstellar and Intergalactic Magnetic Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, J. L.

2017-08-01

Observational results of interstellar and intergalactic magnetic fields are reviewed, including the fields in supernova remnants and loops, interstellar filaments and clouds, Hii regions and bubbles, the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, galaxy clusters, and the cosmic web. A variety of approaches are used to investigate these fields. The orientations of magnetic fields in interstellar filaments and molecular clouds are traced by polarized thermal dust emission and starlight polarization. The field strengths and directions along the line of sight in dense clouds and cores are measured by Zeeman splitting of emission or absorption lines. The large-scale magnetic fields in the Milky Way have been best probed by Faraday rotation measures of a large number of pulsars and extragalactic radio sources. The coherent Galactic magnetic fields are found to follow the spiral arms and have their direction reversals in arms and interarm regions in the disk. The azimuthal fields in the halo reverse their directions below and above the Galactic plane. The orientations of organized magnetic fields in nearby galaxies have been observed through polarized synchrotron emission. Magnetic fields in the intracluster medium have been indicated by diffuse radio halos, polarized radio relics, and Faraday rotations of embedded radio galaxies and background sources. Sparse evidence for very weak magnetic fields in the cosmic web is the detection of the faint radio bridge between the Coma cluster and A1367. Future observations should aim at the 3D tomography of the large-scale coherent magnetic fields in our Galaxy and nearby galaxies, a better description of intracluster field properties, and firm detections of intergalactic magnetic fields in the cosmic web.

Mid-Infrared Observations of Possible Intergalactic Star Forming Regions in the Leo Ring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giroux, Mark; Smith, B.; Struck, C.

2011-05-01

Within the Leo group of galaxies lies a gigantic loop of intergalactic gas known as the Leo Ring. Not clearly associated with any particular galaxy, its origin remains uncertain. It may be a primordial intergalactic cloud alternatively, it may be a collision ring, or have a tidal origin. Combining archival Spitzer images of this structure with published UV and optical data, we investigate the mid-infrared properties of possible knots of star formation in the ring. These sources are very faint in the mid-infrared compared to star forming regions in the tidal features of interacting galaxies. This suggests they are either deficient in dust, or they may not be associated with the ring.

The Role of Feedback in Galaxy Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, C. L.

2004-12-01

Our understanding of galaxy formation is founded on the well-understood principle of gravitational amplification of structure but lacks the astrophysical knowledge needed to predict the properties of galaxies and small scale properties of the intergalactic medium. While gas cooling and galaxy merging are now modeled with reasonable accuracy, the complex process of gas reheating by massive stars and active nuclei is described by simple empirical "feedback" recipes. Chandra and XMM-Newton observations now provide direct imaging of this hot gas in nearby starburst galaxies; and outflow speeds -- of cooler gas entrained in hot galactic winds -- have been measured over a large range of galaxy masses and formation epochs. My talk will describe how these empirical studies help us understand the dynamics of galactic winds and discuss the consequences for the shape of the galaxy luminosity function and the enrichment of the intergalactic medium with metals. Funding from NASA, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation made much of this work possible.

The Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hayes, Jeffrey (Technical Monitor)

2005-01-01

This grant is associated to a 5-year LTSA grant, on "Studying the Largest Reservoir of Baryons in the Universe: The Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium". The first year of work within this program has been very rich, and has already produced several important results, as detailed in this paper. Table 2 of our original proposal justification, listed the planned year-by-year program, divided into two sub-fields: (A) the study of the z=0 (or Local Group WHIM) system, and (B) the study of the z greater than 0 (i.e- intervening WHIM) systems. For each of the two sub-fields we had planned to analyze, in the first year, a number of archival (Chandra, XMM and FUSE) and new (if observed) sightlines. Moreover, the plan for the z=0 system included the search for new interesting sightlines. We have accomplished all these tasks.

The igmspec database of public spectra probing the intergalactic medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prochaska, J. X.

2017-04-01

We describe v02 of igmspec, a database of publicly available ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared spectra that probe the intergalactic medium (IGM). This database, a child of the specdb repository in the specdb github organization, comprises 403 277 unique sources and 434 686 spectra obtained with the world's greatest observatories. All of these data are distributed in a single ≈ 25GB HDF5 file maintained at the University of California Observatories and the University of California, Santa Cruz. The specdb software package includes Python scripts and modules for searching the source catalog and spectral datasets, and software links to the linetools package for spectral analysis. The repository also includes software to generate private spectral datasets that are compliant with International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) protocols and a Python-based interface for IVOA Simple Spectral Access queries. Future versions of igmspec will ingest other sources (e.g. gamma-ray burst afterglows) and other surveys as they become publicly available. The overall goal is to include every spectrum that effectively probes the IGM. Future databases of specdb may include publicly available galaxy spectra (exgalspec) and published supernovae spectra (snspec). The community is encouraged to join the effort on github: https://github.com/specdb.

On the deuterium abundance and the importance of stellar mass loss in the interstellar and intergalactic medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van de Voort, Freeke; Quataert, Eliot; Faucher-Giguère, Claude-André; Kereš, Dušan; Hopkins, Philip F.; Chan, T. K.; Feldmann, Robert; Hafen, Zachary

2018-06-01

We quantify the gas-phase abundance of deuterium and fractional contribution of stellar mass loss to the gas in cosmological zoom-in simulations from the Feedback In Realistic Environments project. At low metallicity, our simulations confirm that the deuterium abundance is very close to the primordial value. The chemical evolution of the deuterium abundance that we derive here agrees quantitatively with analytical chemical evolution models. We furthermore find that the relation between the deuterium and oxygen abundance exhibits very little scatter. We compare our simulations to existing high-redshift observations in order to determine a primordial deuterium fraction of (2.549 ± 0.033) × 10-5 and stress that future observations at higher metallicity can also be used to constrain this value. At fixed metallicity, the deuterium fraction decreases slightly with decreasing redshift, due to the increased importance of mass-loss from intermediate-mass stars. We find that the evolution of the average deuterium fraction in a galaxy correlates with its star formation history. Our simulations are consistent with observations of the Milky Way's interstellar medium (ISM): the deuterium fraction at the solar circle is 85-92 per cent of the primordial deuterium fraction. We use our simulations to make predictions for future observations. In particular, the deuterium abundance is lower at smaller galactocentric radii and in higher mass galaxies, showing that stellar mass loss is more important for fuelling star formation in these regimes (and can even dominate). Gas accreting on to galaxies has a deuterium fraction above that of the galaxies' ISM, but below the primordial fraction, because it is a mix of gas accreting from the intergalactic medium and gas previously ejected or stripped from galaxies.

Galaxy properties and the cosmic web in simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Metuki, Ofer; Libeskind, Noam I.; Hoffman, Yehuda; Crain, Robert A.; Theuns, Tom

2015-01-01

We seek to understand the relationship between galaxy properties and their local environment, which calls for a proper formulation of the notion of environment. We analyse the Galaxies-Intergalactic Medium Interaction Calculation suite of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations within the framework of the cosmic web as formulated by Hoffman et al., focusing on properties of simulated dark matter haloes and luminous galaxies with respect to voids, sheets, filaments, and knots - the four elements of the cosmic web. We find that the mass functions of haloes depend on environment, which drives other environmental dependence of galaxy formation. The web shapes the halo mass function, and through the strong dependence of the galaxy properties on the mass of their host haloes, it also shapes the galaxy-(web) environment dependence.

The Evolution of Galaxies and Their Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hollenbach, David (Editor); Thronson, Harley A. (Editor); Shull, J. Michael (Editor)

1993-01-01

The Third Teton Summer School on Astrophysics discussed the formation of galaxies, star formation in galaxies, galaxies and quasars at high red shift, and the intergalactic and intercluster medium and cooling flows. Observation and theoretical research on these topics was presented at the meeting and summaries of the contributed papers are included in this volume.

A model for intergalactic filaments and galaxy formation during the first gigayear

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harford, A. Gayler; Hamilton, Andrew J. S.

2017-11-01

We propose a physically based, analytic model for intergalactic filaments during the first gigayear of the universe. The structure of a filament is based upon a gravitationally bound, isothermal cylinder of gas. The model successfully predicts for a cosmological simulation the total mass per unit length of a filament (dark matter plus gas) based solely upon the sound speed of the gas component, contrary to the expectation for collisionless dark matter aggregation. In the model, the gas, through its hydrodynamic properties, plays a key role in filament structure rather than being a passive passenger in a preformed dark matter potential. The dark matter of a galaxy follows the classic equation of collapse of a spherically symmetric overdensity in an expanding universe. In contrast, the gas usually collapses more slowly. The relative rates of collapse of these two components for individual galaxies can explain the varying baryon deficits of the galaxies under the assumption that matter moves along a single filament passing through the galaxy centre, rather than by spherical accretion. The difference in behaviour of the dark matter and gas can be simply and plausibly related to the model. The range of galaxies studied includes that of the so-called too big to fail galaxies, which are thought to be problematic for the standard Λ cold dark matter model of the universe. The isothermal-cylinder model suggests a simple explanation for why these galaxies are, unaccountably, missing from the night sky.

A search for extended radio emission from selected compact galaxy groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikiel-Wroczyński, B.; Urbanik, M.; Soida, M.; Beck, R.; Bomans, D. J.

2017-07-01

Context. Studies on compact galaxy groups have led to the conclusion that a plenitude of phenomena take place in between galaxies that form them. However, radio data on these objects are extremely scarce and not much is known concerning the existence and role of the magnetic field in intergalactic space. Aims: We aim to study a small sample of galaxy groups that look promising as possible sources of intergalactic magnetic fields; for example data from radio surveys suggest that most of the radio emission is due to extended, diffuse structures in and out of the galaxies. Methods: We used the Effelsberg 100 m radio telescope at 4.85 GHz and NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) data at 1.40 GHz. After subtraction of compact sources we analysed the maps searching for diffuse, intergalactic radio emission. Spectral index and magnetic field properties were derived. Results: Intergalactic magnetic fields exist in groups HCG 15 and HCG 60, whereas there are no signs of them in HCG 68. There are also hints of an intergalactic bridge in HCG 44 at 4.85 GHz. Conclusions: Intergalactic magnetic fields exist in galaxy groups and their energy density may be comparable to the thermal (X-ray) density, suggesting an important role of the magnetic field in the intra-group medium, wherever it is detected.

Probing the nature of dark matter through the metal enrichment of the intergalactic medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bremer, Jonas; Dayal, Pratika; Ryan-Weber, Emma V.

2018-06-01

We focus on exploring the metal enrichment of the intergalactic medium (IGM) in cold and warm (1.5 and 3 keV) dark matter (DM) cosmologies, and the constraints this yields on the DM particle mass, using a semi-analytic model, DELPHI, that jointly tracks the DM and baryonic assembly of galaxies at z ≃ 4-20 including both supernova (SN) and (a range of) reionization feedback (models). We find that while M_{UV}≳ -15 galaxies contribute half of all IGM metals in the cold dark matter (CDM) model by z ≃ 4.5, given the suppression of low-mass haloes, larger haloes with M_{UV}≲ -15 provide about 80 per cent of the IGM metal budget in 1.5 keV warm dark matter (WDM) models using two different models for the metallicity of the interstellar medium. Our results also show that the only models compatible with two different high-redshift data sets, provided by the evolving ultraviolet luminosity function (UV LF) at z ≃ 6-10 and IGM metal density, are standard CDM and 3 keV WDM that do not include any reionization feedback; a combination of the UV LF and the Díaz et al. point provides a weaker constraint, allowing CDM and 3 and 1.5 keV WDM models with SN feedback only, as well as CDM with complete gas suppression of all haloes with v_{circ} ≲ 30 km s^{-1}. Tightening the error bars on the IGM metal enrichment, future observations, at z ≳ 5.5, could therefore represent an alternative way of shedding light on the nature of DM.

The polar-ring galaxies NGC 2685 and NGC 3808B (VV 300)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reshetnikov, V. P.; Yakovleva, V. A.

1990-01-01

Polar-ring galaxies (PRG) are among the most interesting examples of interaction between galaxies. A PRG is a galaxy with an elongated main body surrounded by a ring (or a disk) of stars, gas, and dust rotating in a near-polar plane (Schweizer, Whitmore, and Rubin, 1983). Accretion of matter by a massive lenticular galaxy from either intergalactic medium or a companion galaxy is usually considered as an explanation of the observed structure of PRG. In the latter case there are two possibilities: capture and merging of a neighbor galaxy, and accretion of mass from a companion galaxy during a close encounter. Two PRG formation scenarios just mentioned are illustrated here by the results of our observations of the peculiar galaxies NGC 2685 and NGC 3808B.

On the Matter Probed by Quasar Absorption Spectra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peroux, Celine

2010-10-01

The intergalactic medium (IGM) constitutes a reservoir of baryons from which galaxies form and is, in turn, affected by the processes of galaxy formation. These latter processes are responsible for the reionisation of most of the hydrogen content of the intergalactic medium and later on, for the reionisation of helium with a contribution from quasars. Galactic winds due to massive stars and supernovae pollute the IGM with metals. The mechanical energy released by the collisional excitation due to galaxy and structure formation heats the medium into the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM). Most of the baryons are probably in this hotter phase, since only a small fraction has been observed in galaxies and the ionised medium so far. In turn, these modifications of the IGM state impact the star formation history by providing a mechanism for global cold gas accretion. Therefore the interactions between galaxies and the intergalactic medium play a major role in the cosmological evolution of structures and the history of baryons, which cannot be solely traced by the starlight from galaxies (representing only 10% of the baryons).

A magnified young galaxy from about 500 million years after the Big Bang.

PubMed

Zheng, Wei; Postman, Marc; Zitrin, Adi; Moustakas, John; Shu, Xinwen; Jouvel, Stephanie; Høst, Ole; Molino, Alberto; Bradley, Larry; Coe, Dan; Moustakas, Leonidas A; Carrasco, Mauricio; Ford, Holland; Benítez, Narciso; Lauer, Tod R; Seitz, Stella; Bouwens, Rychard; Koekemoer, Anton; Medezinski, Elinor; Bartelmann, Matthias; Broadhurst, Tom; Donahue, Megan; Grillo, Claudio; Infante, Leopoldo; Jha, Saurabh W; Kelson, Daniel D; Lahav, Ofer; Lemze, Doron; Melchior, Peter; Meneghetti, Massimo; Merten, Julian; Nonino, Mario; Ogaz, Sara; Rosati, Piero; Umetsu, Keiichi; van der Wel, Arjen

2012-09-20

Re-ionization of the intergalactic medium occurred in the early Universe at redshift z ≈ 6-11, following the formation of the first generation of stars. Those young galaxies (where the bulk of stars formed) at a cosmic age of less than about 500 million years (z ≲ 10) remain largely unexplored because they are at or beyond the sensitivity limits of existing large telescopes. Understanding the properties of these galaxies is critical to identifying the source of the radiation that re-ionized the intergalactic medium. Gravitational lensing by galaxy clusters allows the detection of high-redshift galaxies fainter than what otherwise could be found in the deepest images of the sky. Here we report multiband observations of the cluster MACS J1149+2223 that have revealed (with high probability) a gravitationally magnified galaxy from the early Universe, at a redshift of z = 9.6 ± 0.2 (that is, a cosmic age of 490 ± 15 million years, or 3.6 per cent of the age of the Universe). We estimate that it formed less than 200 million years after the Big Bang (at the 95 per cent confidence level), implying a formation redshift of ≲14. Given the small sky area that our observations cover, faint galaxies seem to be abundant at such a young cosmic age, suggesting that they may be the dominant source for the early re-ionization of the intergalactic medium.

The Dispersion of Fast Radio Bursts from a Structured Intergalactic Medium at Redshifts z < 1.5

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shull, J. Michael; Danforth, Charles W.

2018-01-01

We analyze the sources of free electrons that produce the large dispersion measures, {DM}≈ 300{--}1600 (in units of cm‑3 pc), observed toward fast radio bursts (FRBs). Individual galaxies typically produce {DM}∼ 25{--}60 {{cm}}-3 {pc} from ionized gas in their disk, disk-halo interface, and circumgalactic medium. Toward an FRB source at redshift z, a homogeneous intergalactic medium (IGM) containing a fraction {f}{IGM} of cosmological baryons will produce {DM}=(935 {{cm}}-3 {pc}){f}{IGM} {h}70-1I(z), where I{(z)=(2/3{{{Ω }}}m)[\\{{{{Ω }}}m(1+z)}3+{{{Ω }}}{{Λ }}\\}{}1/2-1]. A structured IGM of photoionized Lyα absorbers in the cosmic web produces similar dispersion, modeled from the observed distribution, {f}b(N,z), of H I (Lyα-forest) absorbers in column density and redshift with ionization corrections and scaling relations from cosmological simulations. An analytic formula for DM(z) applied to observed FRB dispersions suggests that {z}{FRB}≈ 0.2{--}1.5 for an IGM containing a significant baryon fraction, {f}{IGM}=0.6+/- 0.1. Future surveys of the statistical distribution, DM(z), of FRBs identified with specific galaxies and redshifts can be used to calibrate the IGM baryon fraction and distribution of Lyα absorbers. Fluctuations in DM at the level ±10 cm‑3 pc will arise from filaments and voids in the cosmic web.

Properties of CGM-Absorbing Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamill, Colin; Conway, Matthew; Apala, Elizabeth; Scott, Jennifer

2018-01-01

We extend the results of a study of the sightlines of 45 low-redshift quasars (0.06 < z < 0.85) observed by HST/COS that lie within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We have used photometric data from the SDSS DR12, along with the known absorption characteristics of the intergalactic medium and circumgalactic medium, to identify the most probable galaxy matches to absorbers in the spectroscopic dataset. Here, we use photometric data and measured galaxy parameters from SDSS DR12 to examine the distributions of galaxy properties such as virial radius, morphology, and position angle among those that match to absorbers within a specific range of impact parameters. We compare those distributions to galaxies within the same impact parameter range that are not matched to any absorber in the HST/COS spectrum in order to investigate global properties of the circumgalactic medium.

Coincidences between O VI and O VII Lines: Insights from High-resolution Simulations of the Warm-hot Intergalactic Medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cen, Renyue

2012-07-01

With high-resolution (0.46 h -1 kpc), large-scale, adaptive mesh-refinement Eulerian cosmological hydrodynamic simulations we compute properties of O VI and O VII absorbers from the warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) at z = 0. Our new simulations are in broad agreement with previous simulations with ~40% of the intergalactic medium being in the WHIM. Our simulations are in agreement with observed properties of O VI absorbers with respect to the line incidence rate and Doppler-width-column-density relation. It is found that the amount of gas in the WHIM below and above 106 K is roughly equal. Strong O VI absorbers are found to be predominantly collisionally ionized. It is found that (61%, 57%, 39%) of O VI absorbers of log N(O VI) cm2 = (12.5-13, 13-14, > 14) have T < 105 K. Cross correlations between galaxies and strong [N(O VI) > 1014 cm-2] O VI absorbers on ~100-300 kpc scales are suggested as a potential differentiator between collisional ionization and photoionization models. Quantitative prediction is made for the presence of broad and shallow O VI lines that are largely missed by current observations but will be detectable by Cosmic Origins Spectrograph observations. The reported 3σ upper limit on the mean column density of coincidental O VII lines at the location of detected O VI lines by Yao et al. is above our predicted value by a factor of 2.5-4. The claimed observational detection of O VII lines by Nicastro et al., if true, is 2σ above what our simulations predict.

Galaxy Groups in HST/COS-SDSS Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conway, Matthew; Hamill, Colin; Apala, Elizabeth; Scott, Jennifer

2018-01-01

We extend the results of a study of the sightlines of 45 low redshift quasars (0.06 < z < 0.85) observed by HST/COS that lie within the footprint of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We have used photometric data from the SDSS DR12, along with the known absorption characteristics of the intergalactic medium and circumgalactic medium, to identify the most probable galaxy matches to absorbers in the spectroscopic dataset. Here, we use an existing catalog of galaxy group candidates in the SDSS DR8 to identify galaxy groups within our HST/COS-SDSS fields that may show line of sight absorption due to an intergroup medium. To identify galaxy group candidates that lie within the impact parameter of our quasar fields (< 3 degrees), we calculate the angular separation between the quasar coordinates and the galaxy group centroid coordinates. We investigate differences in galaxy and absorber properties among the galaxy-absorber pairs likely arising in groups and those likely associated with individual field galaxies.

PAPER-64 Constraints On Reionization. II. The Temperature of the z =8.4 Intergalactic Medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pober, Jonathan C.; Ali, Zaki S.; Parsons, Aaron R.; McQuinn, Matthew; Aguirre, James E.; Bernardi, Gianni; Bradley, Richard F.; Carilli, Chris L.; Cheng, Carina; DeBoer, David R.; Dexter, Matthew R.; Furlanetto, Steven R.; Grobbelaar, Jasper; Horrell, Jasper; Jacobs, Daniel C.; Klima, Patricia J.; Kohn, Saul A.; Liu, Adrian; MacMahon, David H. E.; Maree, Matthys; Mesinger, Andrei; Moore, David F.; Razavi-Ghods, Nima; Stefan, Irina I.; Walbrugh, William P.; Walker, Andre; Zheng, Haoxuan

2015-08-01

We present constraints on both the kinetic temperature of the intergalactic medium (IGM) at z = 8.4, and on models for heating the IGM at high-redshift with X-ray emission from the first collapsed objects. These constraints are derived using a semi-analytic method to explore the new measurements of the 21 cm power spectrum from the Donald C. Backer Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER), which were presented in a companion paper, Ali et al. Twenty-one cm power spectra with amplitudes of hundreds of mK2 can be generically produced if the kinetic temperature of the IGM is significantly below the temperature of the cosmic microwave background (CMB); as such, the new results from PAPER place lower limits on the IGM temperature at z = 8.4. Allowing for the unknown ionization state of the IGM, our measurements find the IGM temperature to be above ≈5 K for neutral fractions between 10% and 85%, above ≈7 K for neutral fractions between 15% and 80%, or above ≈10 K for neutral fractions between 30% and 70%. We also calculate the heating of the IGM that would be provided by the observed high redshift galaxy population, and find that for most models, these galaxies are sufficient to bring the IGM temperature above our lower limits. However, there are significant ranges of parameter space that could produce a signal ruled out by the PAPER measurements; models with a steep drop-off in the star formation rate density at high redshifts or with relatively low values for the X-ray to star formation rate efficiency of high redshift galaxies are generally disfavored. The PAPER measurements are consistent with (but do not constrain) a hydrogen spin temperature above the CMB temperature, a situation which we find to be generally predicted if galaxies fainter than the current detection limits of optical/NIR surveys are included in calculations of X-ray heating.

PAPER-64 CONSTRAINTS ON REIONIZATION. II. THE TEMPERATURE OF THE z = 8.4 INTERGALACTIC MEDIUM

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pober, Jonathan C.; Ali, Zaki S.; Parsons, Aaron R.

We present constraints on both the kinetic temperature of the intergalactic medium (IGM) at z = 8.4, and on models for heating the IGM at high-redshift with X-ray emission from the first collapsed objects. These constraints are derived using a semi-analytic method to explore the new measurements of the 21 cm power spectrum from the Donald C. Backer Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER), which were presented in a companion paper, Ali et al. Twenty-one cm power spectra with amplitudes of hundreds of mK{sup 2} can be generically produced if the kinetic temperature of the IGM ismore » significantly below the temperature of the cosmic microwave background (CMB); as such, the new results from PAPER place lower limits on the IGM temperature at z = 8.4. Allowing for the unknown ionization state of the IGM, our measurements find the IGM temperature to be above ≈5 K for neutral fractions between 10% and 85%, above ≈7 K for neutral fractions between 15% and 80%, or above ≈10 K for neutral fractions between 30% and 70%. We also calculate the heating of the IGM that would be provided by the observed high redshift galaxy population, and find that for most models, these galaxies are sufficient to bring the IGM temperature above our lower limits. However, there are significant ranges of parameter space that could produce a signal ruled out by the PAPER measurements; models with a steep drop-off in the star formation rate density at high redshifts or with relatively low values for the X-ray to star formation rate efficiency of high redshift galaxies are generally disfavored. The PAPER measurements are consistent with (but do not constrain) a hydrogen spin temperature above the CMB temperature, a situation which we find to be generally predicted if galaxies fainter than the current detection limits of optical/NIR surveys are included in calculations of X-ray heating.« less

Primordial random motions and angular momenta of galaxies and galaxy clusters.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Silk, J.; Lea, S.

1973-01-01

We study the decay of primordial random motions of galaxies and galaxy clusters in an expanding universe by solving a kinetic equation for the relaxation of differential energy spectra N(E, t). Systematic dissipative energy losses are included, involving gravitational drag by, and accretion of, intergalactic matter, as well as the effect of collisions with other systems. Formal and numerical solutions are described for two distinct modes of galaxy formation in a turbulent medium, corresponding to formation at a distinct epoch and to continuous formation of galaxies. We show that any primordial random motions of galaxies at the present epoch can amount to at most a few km/sec, and that collisions at early epochs can lead to the acquisition of significant amounts of primordial angular momentum.

Theoretical Astrophysics - Volume 3, Galaxies and Cosmology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Padmanabhan, T.

2002-12-01

1. Overview: galaxies and cosmology; 2. Galactic structure and dynamics; 3. Friedmann model of the universe; 4. Thermal history of the universe; 5. Structure formation; 6. Cosmic microwave background radiation; 7. Formation of baryonic structures; 8. Active galactic nuclei; 9. Intergalactic medium and absorption systems; 10. Cosmological observations.

Does Light from Steady Sources Bear Any Observable Imprint of the Dispersive Intergalactic Medium?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lieu, Richard; Duan, Lingze

2018-02-01

There has recently been some interest in the prospect of detecting ionized intergalactic baryons by examining the properties of incoherent light from background cosmological sources, namely quasars. Although the paper by Lieu et al. proposed a way forward, it was refuted by the later theoretical work of Hirata & McQuinn and the observational study of Hales et al. In this paper we investigate in detail the manner in which incoherent radiation passes through a dispersive medium both from the frameworks of classical and quantum electrodynamics, leading us to conclude that the premise of Lieu et al. would only work if the pulses involved are genuinely classical ones containing many photons per pulse; unfortunately, each photon must not be treated as a pulse that is susceptible to dispersive broadening. We are nevertheless able to change the tone of the paper at this juncture by pointing out that because current technology allows one to measure the phase of individual modes of radio waves from a distant source, the most reliable way of obtaining irrefutable evidence of dispersion, namely via the detection of its unique signature of a quadratic spectral phase, may well be already accessible. We demonstrate how this technique is only applied to measure the column density of the ionized intergalactic medium.

Characterization of the warm-hot intergalactic medium near the Coma cluster through high-resolution spectroscopy of X Comae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonamente, M.; Ahoranta, J.; Tilton, E.; Tempel, E.; Morandi, A.

2017-08-01

We have analysed all available archival XMM-Newton observations of X Comae, a bright X-ray quasar behind the Coma cluster, to study the properties of the warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) in the vicinity of the nearest massive galaxy cluster. The reflection grating spectrometer observations confirm the possible presence of a Ne ix K α absorption line at the redshift of Coma, although with a limited statistical significance. This analysis is therefore in line with the earlier analysis by Takei et al. based on a sub-set of these data. Its large column density and optical depth, however, point to implausible conditions for the absorbing medium, thereby casting serious doubts to its reality. Chandra has never observed X Comae and therefore cannot provide additional information on this source. We combine upper limits to the presence of other X-ray absorption lines (notably from O vii and O viii) at the redshift of Coma with positive measurements of the soft excess emission from Coma measured by ROSAT (Bonamente et al.). The combination of emission from warm-hot gas at kT ˜ 1/4 keV and upper limits from absorption lines provide useful constraints on the density and the sightline length of the putative WHIM towards Coma. We conclude that the putative warm-hot medium towards Coma is consistent with expected properties, with a baryon overdensity δb ≥ 10 and a sightline extent of order of tens of Mpc.

Density Bounded H II Regions: Ionization of the Diffuse Interstellar and Intergalactic Media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zurita, A.; Rozas, M.; Beckman, J. E.

2000-05-01

We present a study of the diffuse ionized gas (DIG) for a sample of nearby spiral galaxies using Hα images, after constructing their H II region catalogues. The integrated Hα emission of the DIG accounts for between 25% to 60% of the total Hα of the galaxy and a high ionizing photon flux is necessary to keep this gas ionized. We suggest that Lyman photons leaking from the most luminous H II regions are the prime source of the ionization of the DIG; they are more than enough to ionize the measured DIG in the model in which H II regions with luminosity in Hα greater than LStr=1038.6 erg sme are density bounded. We go on to show that this model can quantify the ionization observed in the skins of the high velocity clouds well above the plane of our Galaxy and predicts the ionization of the intergalactic medium.

Constraints on the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich signal from the warm-hot intergalactic medium from WMAP and SPT data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Génova-Santos, Ricardo; Suárez-Velásquez, I.; Atrio-Barandela, F.; Mücket, J. P.

2013-07-01

The fraction of ionized gas in the warm-hot intergalactic medium induces temperature anisotropies on the cosmic microwave background similar to those of clusters of galaxies. The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) anisotropies due to these low-density, weakly non-linear, baryon filaments cannot be distinguished from that of clusters using frequency information, but they can be separated since their angular scales are very different. To determine the relative contribution of the WHIM SZ signal to the radiation power spectrum of temperature anisotropies, we explore the parameter space of the concordance Λ cold dark matter model using Monte Carlo Markov chains and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 7 yr and South Pole Telescope data. We find marginal evidence of a contribution by diffuse gas, with amplitudes of AWHIM = 10-20 μK2, but the results are also compatible with a null contribution from the WHIM, allowing us to set an upper limit of AWHIM < 43 μK2 (95.4 per cent CL). The signal produced by galaxy clusters remains at ACL = 4.5 μK2, a value similar to what is obtained when no WHIM is included. From the measured WHIM amplitude, we constrain the temperature-density phase diagram of the diffuse gas, and find it to be compatible with numerical simulations. The corresponding baryon fraction in the WHIM varies from 0.43 to 0.47, depending on model parameters. The forthcoming Planck data could set tighter constraints on the temperature-density relation.

PATCHY BLAZAR HEATING: DIVERSIFYING THE THERMAL HISTORY OF THE INTERGALACTIC MEDIUM

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lamberts, Astrid; Chang, Philip; Pfrommer, Christoph

TeV-blazars potentially heat the intergalactic medium (IGM) as their gamma rays interact with photons of the extragalactic background light to produce electron–positron pairs, which lose their kinetic energy to the surrounding medium through plasma instabilities. This results in a heating mechanism that is only weakly sensitive to the local density, and therefore approximately spatially uniform, naturally producing an inverted temperature–density relation in underdense regions. In this paper we go beyond the approximation of uniform heating and quantify the heating rate fluctuations due to the clustered distribution of blazars and how this impacts the thermal history of the IGM. We analyticallymore » compute a filtering function that relates the heating rate fluctuations to the underlying dark matter density field. We implement it in the cosmological code GADGET-3 and perform large-scale simulations to determine the impact of inhomogeneous heating. We show that because of blazar clustering, blazar heating is inhomogeneous for z ≳ 2. At high redshift, the temperature–density relation shows an important scatter and presents a low temperature envelope of unheated regions, in particular at low densities and within voids. However, the median temperature of the IGM is close to that in the uniform case, albeit slightly lower at low redshift. We find that blazar heating is more complex than initially assumed and that the temperature–density relation is not unique. Our analytic model for the heating rate fluctuations couples well with large-scale simulations and provides a cost-effective alternative to subgrid models.« less

Intergalactic HI in the NGC5018 group

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guhathakurta, P.; Knapp, G. R.; Vangorkom, Jacqueline H.; Kim, D.-W.

1990-01-01

The cold interstellar and intergalactic medium is in the small group of galaxies whose brightest member is the elliptical galaxy NGC5018. Researchers' attention was first drawn to this galaxy as possibly containing cold interstellar gas by the detection by the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) of emission at lambda 60 microns and lambda 100 microns at an intensity of about 1 Jy (Knapp et al. 1989), which is relatively strong for an elliptical (Jura et al. 1987). These data showed that the temperature of the infrared emission is less than 30K and that its likely source is therefore interstellar dust. A preliminary search for neutral hydrogen (HI) emission from this galaxy using the Very Large Array (VLA) showed that there appears to be HI flowing between NGC5018 and the nearby Sc galaxy NGC5022 (Kim et al. 1988). Since NGC5018 has a well-developed system of optical shells (cf. Malin and Carter 1983; Schweizer 1987) this observation suggests that NGC5018 may be in the process of forming its shell system by the merger of a cold stellar system with the elliptical, as suggested by Quinn (1984). Researchers describe follow-up HI observations of improved sensitivity and spatial resolution, and confirm that HI is flowing between NCG5022 and NGC5018, and around NGC5018. The data show, however, that the HI bridge actually connects NGC5022 and another spiral in the group, MCG03-34-013, both spatially and in radial velocity, and that in doing so it flows through and around NGC5018, which lies between the spiral galaxies. This is shown by the total HI map, with the optical positions of the above three galaxies labelled.

Intergalactic Hydrogen Clouds at Low Redshift: Connections to Voids and Dwarf Galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shull, J. Michael; Stocke, John T.; Penton, Steve

1996-01-01

We provide new post-COSTAR data on one sightline (Mrk 421) and updated data from another (I Zw 1) from our Hubble Space Telescope (HST) survey of intergalactic Ly(alpha) clouds located along sightlines to four bright quasars passing through well-mapped galaxy voids (16000 km/s pathlength) and superclusters (18000 km/s). We report two more definite detections of low-redshift Ly(alpha) clouds in voids: one at 3047 km/s (heliocentric) toward Mrk 421 and a second just beyond the Local Supercluster at 2861 km/s toward I Zw 1, confirming our earlier discovery of Ly(alpha) absorption clouds in voids (Stocke et al., ApJ, 451, 24). We have now identified ten definite and one probable low-redshift neutral hydrogen absorption clouds toward four targets, a frequency of approximately one absorber every 3400 km/s above 10(exp 12.7/sq cm column density. Of these ten absorption systems, three lie within voids; the probable absorber also lies in a void. Thus, the tendency of Ly(alpha) absorbers to 'avoid the voids' is not as clear as we found previously. If the Ly(alpha) clouds are approximated as homogeneous spheres of 100 kpc radius, their masses are approximately 10(exp 9)solar mass (about 0.01 times that of bright L* galaxies) and they are 40 times more numerous, comparable to the density of dwarf galaxies and of low-mass halos in numerical CDM simulations. The Ly(alpha) clouds contribute a fraction Omega(sub cl)approximately equals 0.003/h(sub 75) to the closure density of the universe, comparable to that of luminous matter. These clouds probably require a substantial amount of nonbaryonic dark matter for gravitational binding. They may represent extended haloes of low-mass protogalaxies which have not experienced significant star formation or low-mass dwarf galaxies whose star formation ceased long ago, but blew out significant gaseous material.

Atomic Data Revisions for Transitions Relevant to Observations of Interstellar, Circumgalactic, and Intergalactic Matter

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cashman, Frances H.; Kulkarni, Varsha P.; Kisielius, Romas

2017-05-01

Measurements of element abundances in galaxies from astrophysical spectroscopy depend sensitively on the atomic data used. With the goal of making the latest atomic data accessible to the community, we present a compilation of selected atomic data for resonant absorption lines at wavelengths longward of 911.753 Å (the H i Lyman limit), for key heavy elements (heavier than atomic number 5) of astrophysical interest. In particular, we focus on the transitions of those ions that have been observed in the Milky Way interstellar medium (ISM), the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of the Milky Way and/or other galaxies, and the intergalactic mediummore » (IGM). We provide wavelengths, oscillator strengths, associated accuracy grades, and references to the oscillator strength determinations. We also attempt to compare and assess the recent oscillator strength determinations. For about 22% of the lines that have updated oscillator strength values, the differences between the former values and the updated ones are ≳0.1 dex. Our compilation will be a useful resource for absorption line studies of the ISM, as well as studies of the CGM and IGM traced by sight lines to quasars and gamma-ray bursts. Studies (including those enabled by future generations of extremely large telescopes) of absorption by galaxies against the light of background galaxies will also benefit from our compilation.« less

The search for extended infrared emission near interacting and active galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Appleton, Philip N.

1991-01-01

The following subject areas are covered: the search for extended far IR emission; the search for extended emission in galaxy groups; a brief review of the flattening algorithm; the target groups; extended emission from groups and intergalactic HI clouds; and morphological image processing.

Thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect in the intergalactic medium with primordial magnetic fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minoda, Teppei; Hasegawa, Kenji; Tashiro, Hiroyuki; Ichiki, Kiyotomo; Sugiyama, Naoshi

2017-12-01

The presence of ubiquitous magnetic fields in the universe is suggested from observations of radiation and cosmic ray from galaxies or the intergalactic medium (IGM). One possible origin of cosmic magnetic fields is the magnetogenesis in the primordial universe. Such magnetic fields are called primordial magnetic fields (PMFs), and are considered to affect the evolution of matter density fluctuations and the thermal history of the IGM gas. Hence the information of PMFs is expected to be imprinted on the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) through the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect in the IGM. In this study, given an initial power spectrum of PMFs as P (k )∝B1Mpc 2knB , we calculate dynamical and thermal evolutions of the IGM under the influence of PMFs, and compute the resultant angular power spectrum of the Compton y -parameter on the sky. As a result, we find that two physical processes driven by PMFs dominantly determine the power spectrum of the Compton y -parameter; (i) the heating due to the ambipolar diffusion effectively works to increase the temperature and the ionization fraction, and (ii) the Lorentz force drastically enhances the density contrast on small scale just after the recombination epoch. These facts result in making the anisotropies of the CMB temperature on small scales, and we find that the signal goes up to 10 μ K2 around ℓ˜106 with B1 Mpc=0.1 nG and nB=0.0 . Therefore, CMB measurements on such small scales may provide a hint for the existence of the PMFs.

Galactic wind X-ray heating of the intergalactic medium during the Epoch of Reionization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meiksin, Avery; Khochfar, Sadegh; Paardekooper, Jan-Pieter; Dalla Vecchia, Claudio; Kohn, Saul

2017-11-01

The diffuse soft X-ray emissivity from galactic winds is computed during the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). We consider two analytic models, a pressure-driven wind and a superbubble model, and a 3D cosmological simulation including gas dynamics from the First Billion Years (FiBY) project. The analytic models are normalized to match the diffuse X-ray emissivity of star-forming galaxies in the nearby Universe. The cosmological simulation uses physically motivated star formation and wind prescriptions, and includes radiative transfer corrections. The models and the simulation all are found to produce sufficient heating of the intergalactic medium to be detectable by current and planned radio facilities through 21 cm measurements during the EoR. While the analytic models predict a 21 cm emission signal relative to the cosmic microwave backgroundsets in by ztrans ≃ 8-10, the predicted signal in the FiBY simulation remains in absorption until reionization completes. The 21 cm absorption differential brightness temperature reaches a minimum of ΔT ≃ -130 to -200 mK, depending on model. Allowing for additional heat from high-mass X-ray binaries pushes the transition to emission to ztrans ≃ 10-12, with shallower absorption signatures having a minimum of ΔT ≃ -110 to -140 mK. The 21 cm signal may be a means of distinguishing between the wind models, with the superbubble model favouring earlier reheating. While an early transition to emission may indicate X-ray binaries dominate the reheating, a transition to emission as early as ztrans > 12 would suggest the presence of additional heat sources.

Hydrodynamic Simulations and Tomographic Reconstructions of the Intergalactic Medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stark, Casey William

The Intergalactic Medium (IGM) is the dominant reservoir of matter in the Universe from which the cosmic web and galaxies form. The structure and physical state of the IGM provides insight into the cosmological model of the Universe, the origin and timeline of the reionization of the Universe, as well as being an essential ingredient in our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. Our primary handle on this information is a signal known as the Lyman-alpha forest (or Ly-alpha forest) -- the collection of absorption features in high-redshift sources due to intervening neutral hydrogen, which scatters HI Ly-alpha photons out of the line of sight. The Ly-alpha forest flux traces density fluctuations at high redshift and at moderate overdensities, making it an excellent tool for mapping large-scale structure and constraining cosmological parameters. Although the computational methodology for simulating the Ly-alpha forest has existed for over a decade, we are just now approaching the scale of computing power required to simultaneously capture large cosmological scales and the scales of the smallest absorption systems. My thesis focuses on using simulations at the edge of modern computing to produce precise predictions of the statistics of the Ly-alpha forest and to better understand the structure of the IGM. In the first part of my thesis, I review the state of hydrodynamic simulations of the IGM, including pitfalls of the existing under-resolved simulations. Our group developed a new cosmological hydrodynamics code to tackle the computational challenge, and I developed a distributed analysis framework to compute flux statistics from our simulations. I present flux statistics derived from a suite of our large hydrodynamic simulations and demonstrate convergence to the per cent level. I also compare flux statistics derived from simulations using different discretizations and hydrodynamic schemes (Eulerian finite volume vs. smoothed particle hydrodynamics) and

Spectroscopic confirmation of a galaxy at redshift z = 8.6.

PubMed

Lehnert, M D; Nesvadba, N P H; Cuby, J-G; Swinbank, A M; Morris, S; Clément, B; Evans, C J; Bremer, M N; Basa, S

2010-10-21

Galaxies had their most significant impact on the Universe when they assembled their first generations of stars. Energetic photons emitted by young, massive stars in primeval galaxies ionized the intergalactic medium surrounding their host galaxies, cleared sightlines along which the light of the young galaxies could escape, and fundamentally altered the physical state of the intergalactic gas in the Universe continuously until the present day. Observations of the cosmic microwave background, and of galaxies and quasars at the highest redshifts, suggest that the Universe was reionized through a complex process that was completed about a billion years after the Big Bang, by redshift z ≈ 6. Detecting ionizing Lyman-α photons from increasingly distant galaxies places important constraints on the timing, location and nature of the sources responsible for reionization. Here we report the detection of Lyα photons emitted less than 600 million years after the Big Bang. UDFy-38135539 (ref. 5) is at a redshift of z = 8.5549 ± 0.0002, which is greater than those of the previously known most distant objects, at z = 8.2 (refs 6 and 7) and z = 6.96 (ref. 8). We find that this single source is unlikely to provide enough photons to ionize the volume necessary for the emission line to escape, requiring a significant contribution from other, probably fainter galaxies nearby.

Present-day Galaxy Evolution through Baryon Flows in the Circumgalactic Medium of the Galactic-Magellanic System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barger, Kathleen Ann

Galaxy evolution is governed by an intricate ballet of gas flows. To sustain star formation over many billions of years, more gas must inflow than outflow. Although numerous gas clouds surround the Milky Way, their attributes, origins, destinations, and responses to their surroundings need thorough investigation on an individual basis to realize how the entire population affects Galactic evolution. This dissertation hones in on two circumgalactic gas structures near the Milky Way: Complex A and the Magellanic Bridge. Complex A is an elongated gas structure that is traversing the hot Halo of the Milky Way, plummeting towards the Galaxy's disk. The Magellanic Bridge is a bridge of gas and stars that connects the Magellanic Clouds, created by galaxy interactions. In this thesis, I present the results of the highest sensitivity and kinematically resolved Halpha emission-line survey of Complex A and Halpha, [S II], and [N II] surveys of the Magellanic Bridge using the Wisconsin Halpha Mapper to explore their properties, surroundings, origins, and fates to unravel how circumgalactic structures influence galaxy evolution. I find that the observational properties of Complex A closely match with radiative transfer model predictions of a cloud ionized by the Milky Way and extragalactic background, implying a 5% escape fraction of ionizing photons from the Galactic disk. The multiline observations and modeling place the cloud's metallicity below solar. These results combined with other studies suggests the cloud has an intergalactic medium origin. I find that the global distribution of the warm ionized gas traces the neutral gas in the Magellanic Bridge. These observations place the ionized gas mass between (0.7 -- 1.6) x 108 solar masses, implying an ionization fraction of 25 -- 33% and a 5% maximum escape fraction of ionizing photons from the Magellanic Clouds. The line ratios reveal that the physical state of the the SMC-Tail and the LMC-Bridge interface regions differ

The Role of Star Formation in Radio-Loud Galaxy Groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herbst, Hanna; Wilcots, E.; Hess, K.

2010-01-01

X-ray observations have shown that additional non-gravitational processes are required to explain the heating of the intergalactic medium in galaxy groups. The two most likely processes are galactic outflows from starbursts and feedback from AGN. Here, we look at star formation as a possible additional heating mechanism in X-ray luminous groups such as NGC 741, NGC 1052, NGC 524, and NGC 1587. We report on the results of optical imaging of these groups carried out using the WIYN 3.5m telescope with a specific emphasis on measuring the star formation rates of the resident galaxies in each group and estimating the impact of that star formation on the thermodynamics of the intragroup medium.

Measurement of the small-scale structure of the intergalactic medium using close quasar pairs

DOE PAGES

Rorai, Alberto; Hennawi, Joseph F.; Oñorbe, Jose; ...

2017-04-28

The distribution of diffuse gas in the intergalactic medium (IGM) imprints a series of hydrogen absorption lines on the spectra of distant background quasars known as the Lyman-α forest. Cosmological hydrodynamical simulations predict that IGM density fluctuations are suppressed below a characteristic scale where thermal pressure balances gravity. We measured this pressure-smoothing scale by quantifying absorption correlations in a sample of close quasar pairs. We compared our measurements to hydrodynamical simulations, where pressure smoothing is determined by the integrated thermal history of the IGM. Lastly, our findings are consistent with standard models for photoionization heating by the ultraviolet radiation backgroundsmore » that reionized the universe.« less

Starbursts triggered by central overpressure in interacting galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jog, Chanda J.; Das, Mousumi

1993-01-01

A triggering mechanism for the origin of enhanced, massive-star formation in the central regions of interacting spiral galaxy pairs is proposed. Our mechanism is based on the detailed evolution of a realistic interstellar medium in a galaxy following an encounter. As a disk giant molecular cloud (GMC) tumbles into the central region following a galaxy encounter, it undergoes a radiative shock compression via the pre-existing high pressure of the central intercloud medium. The shocked outer shell of a GMC becomes gravitationally unstable and begins to fragment thus resulting in a burst of star formation, when the growth time for the gravitational instabilities in the shell becomes smaller than the crossing time of the shock. The resulting values of typical infrared luminosity agree with observations.

X-ray optics for WHIMex: the Warm Hot Intergalactic Medium Explorer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cash, W.; McEntaffer, R.; Zhang, W.; Casement, S.; Lillie, C.; Schattenburg, M.; Bautz, M.; Holland, A.; Tsunemi, H.; O'Dell, S.

2011-09-01

The x-ray astronomy community has never flown a celestial source spectrograph that can resolve natural line widths in absorption the way the ultraviolet community did with OAO-3 Copernicus back in 1972. Yet there is important science to be mined there, and right now, the large flagship missions like the International X-ray Observatory are not progressing toward launch. WHIMEx is an Explorer concept proposed earlier this year to open up that science regime in the next few years. The concept features a modified off-plane grating spectrograph design that will support high resolution (λ/δλ ~ 4000) in the soft x-ray band with a high packing density that will enable a modest cost space mission. We discuss the design and capabilities for the WHIMEx mission. Its prime science goal is detecting high temperature oxygen in the Intergalactic Medium, but it has a broad range of science potential cutting across all of x-ray astronomy and should give us a new window on the Universe.

Detection of an oxygen emission line from a high-redshift galaxy in the reionization epoch.

PubMed

Inoue, Akio K; Tamura, Yoichi; Matsuo, Hiroshi; Mawatari, Ken; Shimizu, Ikkoh; Shibuya, Takatoshi; Ota, Kazuaki; Yoshida, Naoki; Zackrisson, Erik; Kashikawa, Nobunari; Kohno, Kotaro; Umehata, Hideki; Hatsukade, Bunyo; Iye, Masanori; Matsuda, Yuichi; Okamoto, Takashi; Yamaguchi, Yuki

2016-06-24

The physical properties and elemental abundances of the interstellar medium in galaxies during cosmic reionization are important for understanding the role of galaxies in this process. We report the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array detection of an oxygen emission line at a wavelength of 88 micrometers from a galaxy at an epoch about 700 million years after the Big Bang. The oxygen abundance of this galaxy is estimated at about one-tenth that of the Sun. The nondetection of far-infrared continuum emission indicates a deficiency of interstellar dust in the galaxy. A carbon emission line at a wavelength of 158 micrometers is also not detected, implying an unusually small amount of neutral gas. These properties might allow ionizing photons to escape into the intergalactic medium. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The Growth of Early Galaxies and Reionization of Hydrogen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chary, Ranga Ram

2012-07-01

The reionization of the intergalactic medium about a billion years after the Big Bang was an important event which occurred due to the release of ionizing photons from the growth of stellar mass and black holes in the early Universe. By leveraging the benefits of field galaxy surveys, I will present some recent breakthroughs in our understanding of how the earliest galaxies in the Universe evolved. I will present evidence that unlike in the local Universe where galaxy growth occurs through intermittent cannibalism, star-formation in the distant Universe is a more continuous if violent process with an overabundance of massive stars. Implications for the reionization history of the Universe will also be discussed.

H I debris in the IC 1459 galaxy group

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saponara, Juliana; Koribalski, Bärbel S.; Benaglia, Paula; Fernández López, Manuel

2018-01-01

We present H I synthesis imaging of the giant elliptical galaxy IC 1459 and its surroundings with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. Our search for extended H I emission revealed a large complex of H I clouds near IC 1459, likely to be the debris from tidal interactions with neighbouring galaxies. The total H I mass (∼109 M⊙) in the detected clouds spans 250 kpc from the north-east of the gas-rich spiral NGC 7418A to the south-east of IC 1459. The extent and mass of the H I debris, which shows rather irregular morphology and kinematics, are similar to those in other nearby groups. Together with H I clouds recently detected near two other IC 1459 group members, namely IC 5270 and NGC 7418, using phased-array feeds on the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, the detected debris make up a significant fraction of the group's intergalactic medium.

On modeling and measuring the temperature of the z ∼ 5 intergalactic medium

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lidz, Adam; Malloy, Matthew, E-mail: alidz@sas.upenn.edu

2014-06-20

The temperature of the low-density intergalactic medium (IGM) at high redshift is sensitive to the timing and nature of hydrogen and He II reionization, and can be measured from Lyman-alpha (Lyα) forest absorption spectra. Since the memory of intergalactic gas to heating during reionization gradually fades, measurements as close as possible to reionization are desirable. In addition, measuring the IGM temperature at sufficiently high redshifts should help to isolate the effects of hydrogen reionization since He II reionization starts later, at lower redshift. Motivated by this, we model the IGM temperature at z ≳ 5 using semi-numeric models of patchymore » reionization. We construct mock Lyα forest spectra from these models and consider their observable implications. We find that the small-scale structure in the Lyα forest is sensitive to the temperature of the IGM even at redshifts where the average absorption in the forest is as high as 90%. We forecast the accuracy at which the z ≳ 5 IGM temperature can be measured using existing samples of high resolution quasar spectra, and find that interesting constraints are possible. For example, an early reionization model in which reionization ends at z ∼ 10 should be distinguishable—at high statistical significance—from a lower redshift model where reionization completes at z ∼ 6. We discuss improvements to our modeling that may be required to robustly interpret future measurements.« less

Intergalactic stellar populations in intermediate redshift clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melnick, J.; Giraud, E.; Toledo, I.; Selman, F.; Quintana, H.

2012-11-01

A substantial fraction of the total stellar mass in rich clusters of galaxies resides in a diffuse intergalactic component usually referred to as the intracluster light (ICL). Theoretical models indicate that these intergalactic stars originate mostly from the tidal interaction of the cluster galaxies during the assembly history of the cluster, and that a significant fraction of these stars could have formed in situ from the late infall of cold metal-poor gas clouds on to the cluster. However, these models also overpredict the fraction of stellar mass in the ICL by a substantial margin, something that is still not well understood. The models also make predictions about the age distribution of the ICL stars, which may provide additional observational constraints. Here we present population synthesis models for the ICL of an intermediate redshift (z = 0.29) X-ray cluster that we have extensively studied in previous papers. The advantage of observing intermediate redshift clusters rather than nearby ones is that the former fit the field of view of multi-object spectrographs in 8-m telescopes and therefore permit us to encompass most of the ICL with only a few well-placed slits. In this paper we show that by stacking spectra at different locations within the ICL it is possible to reach sufficiently high signal-to-noise ratios to fit population synthesis models and derive meaningful results. The models provide ages and metallicities for the dominant populations at several different locations within the ICL and the brightest cluster galaxies (BCG) halo, as well as measures of the kinematics of the stars as a function of distance from the BCG. We thus find that the ICL in our cluster is dominated by old metal-rich stars, at odds with what has been found in nearby clusters where the stars that dominate the ICL are old and metal poor. While we see weak evidence of a young, metal-poor component, if real, these young stars would amount to less than 1 per cent of the total ICL

Molecular gas in the halo fuels the growth of a massive cluster galaxy at high redshift.

PubMed

Emonts, B H C; Lehnert, M D; Villar-Martín, M; Norris, R P; Ekers, R D; van Moorsel, G A; Dannerbauer, H; Pentericci, L; Miley, G K; Allison, J R; Sadler, E M; Guillard, P; Carilli, C L; Mao, M Y; Röttgering, H J A; De Breuck, C; Seymour, N; Gullberg, B; Ceverino, D; Jagannathan, P; Vernet, J; Indermuehle, B T

2016-12-02

The largest galaxies in the universe reside in galaxy clusters. Using sensitive observations of carbon monoxide, we show that the Spiderweb galaxy-a massive galaxy in a distant protocluster-is forming from a large reservoir of molecular gas. Most of this molecular gas lies between the protocluster galaxies and has low velocity dispersion, indicating that it is part of an enriched intergalactic medium. This may constitute the reservoir of gas that fuels the widespread star formation seen in earlier ultraviolet observations of the Spiderweb galaxy. Our results support the notion that giant galaxies in clusters formed from extended regions of recycled gas at high redshift. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Revisiting The First Galaxies: The epoch of Population III stars

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Muratov, Alexander L.; Gnedin, Oleg Y.; Gnedin, Nickolay Y.

2013-07-19

We investigate the transition from primordial Population III (Pop III) star formation to normal Pop II star formation in the first galaxies using new cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. We find that while the first stars seed their host galaxies with metals, they cannot sustain significant outflows to enrich the intergalactic medium, even assuming a top-heavy initial mass function. This means that Pop III star formation could potentially continue until z 6 in different unenriched regions of the universe, before being ultimately shut off by cosmic reionization. Within an individual galaxy, the metal production and stellar feedback from Pop II stars overtake Pop III stars inmore » 20-200 Myr, depending on galaxy mass.« less

Tracing the Cosmic Metal Evolution in the Low-redshift Intergalactic Medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shull, J. Michael; Danforth, Charles W.; Tilton, Evan M.

2014-11-01

Using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope, we measured the abundances of six ions (C III, C IV, Si III, Si IV, N V, and O VI) in the low-redshift (z <= 0.4) intergalactic medium (IGM). Both C IV and Si IV have increased in abundance by a factor of ~10 from z ≈ 5.5 to the present. We derive ion mass densities, ρion ≡ Ωionρcr, with Ωion expressed relative to the closure density. Our models of mass-abundance ratios, (Si III/Si IV) = 0.67+0.35-0.19, (C III/C IV) = 0.70+0.43-0.20, and (Ω C \\scriptsize{III} + Ω C \\scriptsize{IV}) / (Ω _Si \\scriptsize{III} + Ω _Si \\scriptsize{IV}) = 4.9+2.2-1.1, are consistent with the photoionization parameter log U = -1.5 ± 0.4, hydrogen photoionization rate ΓH = (8 ± 2) × 10-14 s-1 at z < 0.4, and specific intensity I 0 = (3 ± 1) × 10-23 erg cm-2 s-1 Hz-1 sr-1 at the Lyman limit. Consistent ionization corrections for C and Si are scaled to an ionizing photon flux Φ0 = 104 cm-2 s-1, baryon overdensity Δ b ≈ 200 ± 50, and "alpha-enhancement" (Si/C enhanced to three times its solar ratio). We compare these metal abundances to the expected IGM enrichment and abundances in higher photoionized states of carbon (C V) and silicon (Si V, Si VI, and Si VII). Our ionization modeling infers IGM metal densities of (5.4 ± 0.5) × 105 M ⊙ Mpc-3 in the photoionized Lyα forest traced by the C and Si ions and (9.1 ± 0.6) × 105 M ⊙ Mpc-3 in hotter gas traced by O VI. Combining both phases, the heavy elements in the IGM have mass density ρ Z = (1.5 ± 0.8) × 106 M ⊙ Mpc-3 or Ω Z ≈ 10-5. This represents 10% ± 5% of the metals produced by (6 ± 2) × 108 M ⊙ Mpc-3 of integrated star formation with yield ym = 0.025 ± 0.010. The missing metals at low redshift may reside within galaxies and in undetected ionized gas in galactic halos and circumgalactic medium. Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained from the data archive at the Space Telescope

Measurement of the small-scale structure of the intergalactic medium using close quasar pairs.

PubMed

Rorai, Alberto; Hennawi, Joseph F; Oñorbe, Jose; White, Martin; Prochaska, J Xavier; Kulkarni, Girish; Walther, Michael; Lukić, Zarija; Lee, Khee-Gan

2017-04-28

The distribution of diffuse gas in the intergalactic medium (IGM) imprints a series of hydrogen absorption lines on the spectra of distant background quasars known as the Lyman-α forest. Cosmological hydrodynamical simulations predict that IGM density fluctuations are suppressed below a characteristic scale where thermal pressure balances gravity. We measured this pressure-smoothing scale by quantifying absorption correlations in a sample of close quasar pairs. We compared our measurements to hydrodynamical simulations, where pressure smoothing is determined by the integrated thermal history of the IGM. Our findings are consistent with standard models for photoionization heating by the ultraviolet radiation backgrounds that reionized the universe. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE CIRCUMGALACTIC MEDIUM OF GALAXIES: COOL ACCRETION INFLOW AROUND NGC 1097

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bowen, David V.; Jenkins, Edward B.; Chelouche, Doron

We present Hubble Space Telescope far-UV spectra of four QSOs whose sightlines pass through the halo of NGC 1097 at impact parameters of ρ = 48–165 kpc. NGC 1097 is a nearby spiral galaxy that has undergone at least two minor merger events, but no apparent major mergers, and is relatively isolated with respect to other nearby bright galaxies. This makes NGC 1097 a good case study for exploring baryons in a paradigmatic bright-galaxy halo. Ly α absorption is detected along all sightlines and Si iii λ 1206 is found along the three sightlines with the smallest ρ ; metalmore » lines of C ii, Si ii, and Si iv are only found with certainty toward the innermost sightline. The kinematics of the absorption lines are best replicated by a model with a disk-like distribution of gas approximately planar to the observed 21 cm H i disk, which is rotating more slowly than the inner disk, and into which gas is infalling from the intergalactic medium. Some part of the absorption toward the innermost sightline may arise either from a small-scale outflow or from tidal debris associated with the minor merger that gives rise to the well known “dog-leg” stellar stream that projects from NGC 1097. When compared to other studies, NGC 1097 appears to be a “typical” absorber, although the large dispersion in absorption line column density and equivalent width in a single halo goes perhaps some way toward explaining the wide range of these values seen in higher- z studies.« less

Probing the Intergalactic Medium with Ly α and 21 cm Fluctuations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heneka, Caroline; Cooray, Asantha; Feng, Chang

2017-10-10

We study 21 cm and Ly α fluctuations, as well as H α , while distinguishing between Ly α emission of galactic, diffuse, and scattered intergalactic medium (IGM) origin. Cross-correlation information about the state of the IGM is obtained, testing neutral versus ionized medium cases with different tracers in a seminumerical simulation setup. In order to pave the way toward constraints on reionization history and modeling beyond power spectrum information, we explore parameter dependencies of the cross-power signal between 21 cm and Ly α , which displays a characteristic morphology and a turnover from negative to positive correlation at scalesmore » of a couple Mpc{sup −1}. In a proof of concept for the extraction of further information on the state of the IGM using different tracers, we demonstrate the use of the 21 cm and H α cross-correlation signal to determine the relative strength of galactic and IGM emission in Ly α . We conclude by showing the detectability of the 21 cm and Ly α cross-correlation signal over more than one decade in scale at high signal-to-noise ratio for upcoming probes like SKA and the proposed all-sky intensity mapping satellites SPHEREx and CDIM, while also including the Ly α damping tail and 21 cm foreground avoidance in the modeling.« less

THE COLUMN DENSITY DISTRIBUTION AND CONTINUUM OPACITY OF THE INTERGALACTIC AND CIRCUMGALACTIC MEDIUM AT REDSHIFT (z) = 2.4

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rudie, Gwen C.; Steidel, Charles C.; Shapley, Alice E.

2013-06-01

We present new high-precision measurements of the opacity of the intergalactic and circumgalactic medium (IGM; CGM) at (z) = 2.4. Using Voigt profile fits to the full Ly{alpha} and Ly{beta} forests in 15 high-resolution high-S/N spectra of hyperluminous QSOs, we make the first statistically robust measurement of the frequency of absorbers with H I column densities 14{approx}< log (N{sub H{sub I}}/cm{sup -2}){approx}<17.2. We also present the first measurements of the frequency distribution of H I absorbers in the volume surrounding high-z galaxies (the CGM, 300 pkpc), finding that the incidence of absorbers in the CGM is much higher than inmore » the IGM. In agreement with Rudie et al., we find that there are fractionally more high-N{sub H{sub I}} absorbers than low-N{sub H{sub I}} absorbers in the CGM compared to the IGM, leading to a shallower power law fit to the CGM frequency distribution. We use these new measurements to calculate the total opacity of the IGM and CGM to hydrogen-ionizing photons, finding significantly higher opacity than most previous studies, especially from absorbers with log (N{sub H{sub I}}/cm{sup -2}) < 17.2. Reproducing the opacity measured in our data as well as the incidence of absorbers with log (N{sub H{sub I}}/cm{sup -2})>17.2 requires a broken power law parameterization of the frequency distribution with a break near N{sub H{sub I}} Almost-Equal-To 10{sup 15} cm{sup -2}. We compute new estimates of the mean free path ({lambda}{sub mfp}) to hydrogen-ionizing photons at z{sub em} = 2.4, finding {lambda}{sub mfp} = 147 {+-} 15 Mpc when considering only IGM opacity. If instead, we consider photons emanating from a high-z star-forming galaxy and account for the local excess opacity due to the surrounding CGM of the galaxy itself, the mean free path is reduced to {lambda}{sub mfp} = 121 {+-} 15 Mpc. These {lambda}{sub mfp} measurements are smaller than recent estimates and should inform future studies of the metagalactic UV background

Gas inflow and outflow in an interacting high-redshift galaxy. The remarkable host environment of GRB 080810 at z = 3.35

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiseman, P.; Perley, D. A.; Schady, P.; Prochaska, J. X.; de Ugarte Postigo, A.; Krühler, T.; Yates, R. M.; Greiner, J.

2017-11-01

We reveal multiple components of an interacting galaxy system at z ≈ 3.35 through a detailed analysis of the exquisite high-resolution Keck/HIRES spectrum of the afterglow of a gamma-ray burst (GRB). Through Voigt-profile fitting of absorption lines from the Lyman series, we constrain the neutral hydrogen column density to NH I ≤ 1018.35 cm-2 for the densest of four distinct systems at the host redshift of GRB 080810, which is among the lowest NH I ever observed in a GRB host, even though the line of sight passes within a projected 5 kpc of the galaxy centres. By detailed analysis of the corresponding metal absorption lines, we derive chemical, ionic, and kinematic properties of the individual absorbing systems, and thus build a picture of the host as a whole. Striking differences between the systems imply that the line of sight passes through several phases of gas: the star-forming regions of the GRB host; enriched material in the form of a galactic outflow; the hot and ionised halo of a second interacting galaxy falling towards the host at a line-of-sight velocity of 700 km s-1; and a cool metal-poor cloud that may represent one of the best candidates yet for the inflow of metal-poor gas from the intergalactic medium. The reduced spectrum is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/607/A107

Building the Hot Intra-Group Medium in Spiral-Rich Compact Groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Sullivan, Ewan

2014-11-01

Galaxy groups provide a natural laboratory for investigating the formation of the hot intergalactic medium (IGM). While galaxy clusters gain most of their hot gas through accretion and gravitational shocks, in groups the processes of galaxy evolution (stripping, collisions, star formation) play an important role in the initial build up of the hot halo. We present Chandra and XMM-Newton observations of groups still in the process of forming their IGM, including the well known compact groups HCG 16 and Stephan's Quintet (HCG 92). We show that starburst winds and shock-heating of stripped HI provide important contributions of gas and metals to the IGM, and discuss the impact of gas stripping, enhanced star formation and nuclear activity in the group member galaxies.

Quasi-stellar objects in the intergalactic medium: Source for the cosmic X-ray background

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sherman, R.D.

1980-06-15

QSOs are regarded as sources of both electromagnetic radiation and ejected matter that heat and ionize a dense intergalactic medium (IGM). Using current estimates of QSO luminosity, number density, evolution, and spectral index, we study three viable models: the diffuse cosmic X-ray background is (1) due entirely to thermal Bremsstrahlung of the IGM, (2) completely supplied by QSO X-radiation, (3) or a combination of both. The upper limits on an IGM fractional density with respect to closure are ..cap omega..=0.26, 0.24, and 0.21 for pure collisional, photo/collisional mixture, and pure photoionization, respectively. These calculations give emission spectra, Compton distortion ofmore » the cosmic microwave background, and optical depths to distant OSOs for comparison with relevant data.« less

Characterising the Circum-Galactic Medium of Damped Lyman-α Absorbing Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Augustin, Ramona; Péroux, Céline; Møller, Palle; Kulkarni, Varsha; Rahmani, Hadi; Milliard, Bruno; Pieri, Matthew; York, Donald G.; Vladilo, Giovanni; Aller, Monique; Zwaan, Martin

2018-05-01

Gas flows in and out of galaxies through their circumgalactic medium (CGM) are poorly constrained and direct observations of this faint, diffuse medium remain challenging. We use a sample of five z ˜ 1-2 galaxy counterparts to Damped Lyman-α Absorbers (DLAs) to combine data on cold gas, metals and stellar content of the same galaxies. We present new HST/WFC3 imaging of these fields in 3-5 broadband filters and characterise the stellar properties of the host galaxies. By fitting the spectral energy distribution, we measure their stellar masses to be in the range of log(M*/M⊙) ˜ 9.1-10.7. Combining these with IFU observations, we find a large spread of baryon fractions inside the host galaxies, between 7 and 100 percent. Similarly, we find gas fractions between 3 and 56 percent. Given their star formation rates, these objects lie on the expected main sequence of galaxies. Emission line metallicities indicate they are consistent with the mass-metallicity relation for DLAs. We also report an apparent anti-correlation between the stellar masses and N(H I), which could be due to a dust bias effect or lower column density systems tracing more massive galaxies. We present new ALMA observations of one of the targets leading to a molecular gas mass of log(Mmol/M⊙) < 9.89. We also investigate the morphology of the DLA counterparts and find that most of the galaxies show a clumpy structure and suggest ongoing tidal interaction. Thanks to our high spatial resolution HST data, we gain new insights in the structural complexity of the CGM.

The cosmic baryon cycle and galaxy mass assembly in the FIRE simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anglés-Alcázar, Daniel; Faucher-Giguère, Claude-André; Kereš, Dušan; Hopkins, Philip F.; Quataert, Eliot; Murray, Norman

2017-10-01

We use cosmological simulations from the FIRE (Feedback In Realistic Environments) project to study the baryon cycle and galaxy mass assembly for central galaxies in the halo mass range Mhalo ˜ 1010-1013 M⊙. By tracing cosmic inflows, galactic outflows, gas recycling and merger histories, we quantify the contribution of physically distinct sources of material to galaxy growth. We show that in situ star formation fuelled by fresh accretion dominates the early growth of galaxies of all masses, while the re-accretion of gas previously ejected in galactic winds often dominates the gas supply for a large portion of every galaxy's evolution. Externally processed material contributes increasingly to the growth of central galaxies at lower redshifts. This includes stars formed ex situ and gas delivered by mergers, as well as smooth intergalactic transfer of gas from other galaxies, an important but previously underappreciated growth mode. By z = 0, wind transfer, I.e. the exchange of gas between galaxies via winds, can dominate gas accretion on to ˜L* galaxies over fresh accretion and standard wind recycling. Galaxies of all masses re-accrete ≳50 per cent of the gas ejected in winds and recurrent recycling is common. The total mass deposited in the intergalactic medium per unit stellar mass formed increases in lower mass galaxies. Re-accretion of wind ejecta occurs over a broad range of time-scales, with median recycling times (˜100-350 Myr) shorter than previously found. Wind recycling typically occurs at the scale radius of the halo, independent of halo mass and redshift, suggesting a characteristic recycling zone around galaxies that scales with the size of the inner halo and the galaxy's stellar component.

Probing the chemical composition of the Z < 1 intergalactic medium with observations and simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooksey, Kathy L.

2009-09-01

Metals are produced in the stars in the galaxies, and a variety of feedback processes move metals from the sites of production into the intergalactic medium (IGM), enriching the material for future generations of stars. The signature of this process is etched in the recycled gas: its metallicity, elemental abundances, density, distribution, etc. The study of the low- redshift, z <, IGM is the study of the last eight-billion years of cosmic chemical evolution and all prior enrichment. In this thesis, I characterize the cosmic enrichment cycle with the use of observations and simulations. The gas is observed through quasar absorption- line spectroscopy. As the light of a distant quasar travels to us, intervening clouds of gas absorb the light at wavelengths characteristic, albeit redshifted, of the elements in the clouds. By identifying and modeling the elements associated with the absorption systems, I learn the ionic composition and density of the cosmic web (voids, filaments, and/or groups) along the line of sight. >From a detailed study of a single sightline, I observe a multi-phase IGM, with kinematically-distinct, hot and warm components ( T [approximate] 10 5.5 K and 10 4 K, respectively). By correlating the absorption systems with a complementary galaxy survey of the field around the background quasar, I find that the IGM systems arise in a variety of galactic environments. The metal- lines systems all have L > 0.1 L [low *] galaxies within a few hundred kiloparsecs, which suggests this is the distance to which galactic feedback processes typically disperse metals. I conduct a large, blind survey for triply-ionized carbon (C IV) absorption at z < 1 in the spectra of 49 low-redshift quasars and compare their propertie with those detected at z > 1. The mass density in C IV doublets with 13 < = log N (C +3 ) <= 15 at z < 1 has increased by a factor of 2.8 ± 0.7 over the error- weighted mean of the 1.5 < z < 5 measurements, where the mass density has not evolved

Quasars Probing Quasars. VII. The Pinnacle of the Cool Circumgalactic Medium Surrounds Massive z ~ 2 Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prochaska, J. Xavier; Lau, Marie Wingyee; Hennawi, Joseph F.

2014-12-01

We survey the incidence and absorption strength of the metal-line transitions C II 1334 and C IV 1548 from the circumgalactic medium (CGM) surrounding z ~ 2 quasars, which act as signposts for massive dark matter halos M halo ≈ 1012.5 M ⊙. On scales of the virial radius (r vir ≈ 160 kpc), we measure a high covering fraction fC = 0.73 ± 0.10 to strong C II 1334 absorption (rest equivalent width W 1334 >= 0.2 Å), implying a massive reservoir of cool (T ~ 104 K) metal enriched gas. We conservatively estimate a metal mass exceeding 108 M ⊙. We propose that these metals trace enrichment of the incipient intragroup/intracluster medium that these halos eventually inhabit. This cool CGM around quasars is the pinnacle among galaxies observed at all epochs, as regards covering the fraction and average equivalent width of H I Lyα and low-ion metal absorption. We argue that the properties of this cool CGM primarily reflect the halo mass, and that other factors such as feedback, star-formation rate, and accretion from the intergalactic medium are secondary. We further estimate that the CGM of massive, z ~ 2 galaxies accounts for the majority of strong Mg II absorption along random quasar sightlines. Last, we detect an excess of strong C IV 1548 absorption (W 1548 >= 0.3 Å) over random incidence to the 1 Mpc physical impact parameter and measure the quasar-C IV cross-correlation function: ξ C \\scriptsize{IV-Q}(r) = (r/r_0)-γ with r0 = 7.5+2.8-1.4 h-1 Mpc and γ = 1.7+0.1-0.2. Consistent with previous work on larger scales, we infer that this highly ionized C IV gas traces massive (1012 M ⊙) halos.

Multiwavelength mock observations of the WHIM in a simulated galaxy cluster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Planelles, Susana; Mimica, Petar; Quilis, Vicent; Cuesta-Martínez, Carlos

2018-06-01

About half of the expected total baryon budget in the local Universe is `missing'. Hydrodynamical simulations suggest that most of the missing baryons are located in a mildly overdense, warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM), which is difficult to be detected at most wavelengths. In this paper, we explore multiwavelength synthetic observations of a massive galaxy cluster developed in a full Eulerian-adaptive mesh refinement cosmological simulation. A novel numerical procedure is applied on the outputs of the simulation, which are post-processed with a full-radiative transfer code that can compute the change of the intensity at any frequency along the null geodesic of photons. We compare the emission from the whole intergalactic medium and from the WHIM component (defined as the gas with a temperature in the range 105-107 K) at three observational bands associated with thermal X-rays, thermal and kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect, and radio emission. The synthetic maps produced by this procedure could be directly compared with existing observational maps and could be used as a guide for future observations with forthcoming instruments. The analysis of the different emissions associated with a high-resolution galaxy cluster is in broad agreement with previous simulated and observational estimates of both gas components.

Extent of warm haloes around medium-redshift galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burbidge, E. M.; Barlow, T. A.; Cohen, R. D.; Junkkarinen, V. T.; Womble, D. S.

1989-01-01

The properties of low-to-medium ionization gaseous haloes around galaxies are briefly reviewed. New observations concerning such haloes are presented. For the galaxy-QSO pair in the field of the radio source 3C303, the higher-redshift QSO has been found to show Mg II absorption at the lower redshift of the faint nearby galaxy. Secondly, new data are presented on one of the galaxies in the environment of the well-known BL Lac object AO 0235 + 164.

The large, oxygen-rich halos of star-forming galaxies are a major reservoir of galactic metals.

PubMed

Tumlinson, J; Thom, C; Werk, J K; Prochaska, J X; Tripp, T M; Weinberg, D H; Peeples, M S; O'Meara, J M; Oppenheimer, B D; Meiring, J D; Katz, N S; Davé, R; Ford, A B; Sembach, K R

2011-11-18

The circumgalactic medium (CGM) is fed by galaxy outflows and accretion of intergalactic gas, but its mass, heavy element enrichment, and relation to galaxy properties are poorly constrained by observations. In a survey of the outskirts of 42 galaxies with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph onboard the Hubble Space Telescope, we detected ubiquitous, large (150-kiloparsec) halos of ionized oxygen surrounding star-forming galaxies; we found much less ionized oxygen around galaxies with little or no star formation. This ionized CGM contains a substantial mass of heavy elements and gas, perhaps far exceeding the reservoirs of gas in the galaxies themselves. Our data indicate that it is a basic component of nearly all star-forming galaxies that is removed or transformed during the quenching of star formation and the transition to passive evolution.

X-ray ionization of the intergalactic medium by quasars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graziani, Luca; Ciardi, B.; Glatzle, M.

2018-06-01

We investigate the impact of quasars on the ionization of the surrounding intergalactic medium (IGM) with the radiative transfer code CRASH4, now accounting for X-rays and secondary electrons. After comparing with analytic solutions, we post-process a cosmic volume (≈1.5 × 104 Mpc3h-3) containing a ULAS J1120+0641-like quasar (QSO) hosted by a 5 × 1011M⊙h-1 dark matter (DM) halo. We find that: (i) the average HII region (R ˜ 3.2 pMpc in a lifetime tf = 107 yrs) is mainly set by UV flux, in agreement with semi-analytic scaling relations; (ii) a largely neutral (xHII < 0.001), warm (T ˜ 103 K) tail extends up to few Mpc beyond the ionization front, as a result of the X-ray flux; (iii) LyC-opaque inhomogeneities induce a line of sight (LOS) scatter in R as high as few physical Mpc, consistent with the DLA scenario proposed to explain the anomalous size of the ULAS J1120+0641 ionized region. On the other hand, with an ionization rate \\dot{N}_{γ ,0} ˜ 10^{57} s-1, the assumed DLA clustering and gas opacity, only one LOS shows an HII region compatible with the observed one. We deduce that either the ionization rate of the QSO is at least one order of magnitude lower or the ULAS J1120+0641 bright phase is shorter than 107 yrs.

Detecting Galaxy Formation with He II Cooling Radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yujin; Zabludoff, Ann; Davé, Romeel; Eisenstein, Daniel

2006-08-01

Galaxies obtain material to form their stars from the intergalactic medium, but direct observations of such accretion do not yet exist. Motivated by our theoretical work, we propose the first direct search for gravitational cooling radiation arising from the infall of gas into forming galaxies at z=3. While ``Lyα blobs'' are the best candidates for gas-accreting galaxies at high redshift, and are therefore the focus of our proposed study, their nature remains unknown due to intrinsic difficulties in interpreting their Lyα emission. Here, we propose to survey 10 of the Lyα blobs from the Matsuda et al. sample for He II. Compared to Lyα, Heha is optically thin, less sensitive to the UV background, and less contaminated by the recombination lines from star-forming galaxies, making it an ideal diagnostic line to uncover the processes by which galaxies acquire their baryons. This proposal is a resubmission in which we have explicitly addressed the concerns raised by the TAC last year. This project represents a new approach, which has the potential to revolutionize studies of galaxy formation.

The inevitable youthfulness of known high-redshift radio galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blundell, Katherine M.; Rawlings, Steve

1999-05-01

Some galaxies are very luminous in the radio part of the spectrum. These `radio galaxies' have extensive (hundreds of kiloparsecs) lobes of emission powered by plasma jets originating at a central black hole. Some radio galaxies can be seen at very high redshifts, where in principle they can serve as probes of the early evolution of the Universe. Here we show that, for any model of radio-galaxy evolution in which the luminosity decreases with time after an initial rapid increase (that is, essentially all reasonable models), all observable high-redshift radio galaxies must be seen when the lobes are less than 107 years old. This means that high-redshift radio galaxies can be used as a high-time-resolution probe of evolution in the early Universe. Moreover, this result explains many observed trends of radio-galaxy properties with redshift, without needing to invoke explanations based on cosmology or strong evolution of the surrounding intergalactic medium with cosmic time, thereby avoiding conflict with current theories of structure formation.

Stellar feedback in galaxies and the origin of galaxy-scale winds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hopkins, Philip F.; Quataert, Eliot; Murray, Norman

2012-04-01

Feedback from massive stars is believed to play a critical role in driving galactic super-winds that enrich the intergalactic medium and shape the galaxy mass function, mass-metallicity relation and other global galaxy properties. In previous papers, we have introduced new numerical methods for implementing stellar feedback on sub-giant molecular cloud (sub-GMC) through galactic scales in numerical simulations of galaxies; the key physical processes include radiation pressure in the ultraviolet through infrared, supernovae (Type I and Type II), stellar winds ('fast' O star through 'slow' asymptotic giant branch winds), and H II photoionization. Here, we show that these feedback mechanisms drive galactic winds with outflow rates as high as ˜10-20 times the galaxy star formation rate. The mass-loading efficiency (wind mass-loss rate divided by the star formation rate) scales roughly as ? (where Vc is the galaxy circular velocity), consistent with simple momentum-conservation expectations. We use our suite of simulations to study the relative contribution of each feedback mechanism to the generation of galactic winds in a range of galaxy models, from Small Magellanic Cloud like dwarfs and Milky Way (MW) analogues to z˜ 2 clumpy discs. In massive, gas-rich systems (local starbursts and high-z galaxies), radiation pressure dominates the wind generation. By contrast, for MW-like spirals and dwarf galaxies the gas densities are much lower and sources of shock-heated gas such as supernovae and stellar winds dominate the production of large-scale outflows. In all of our models, however, the winds have a complex multiphase structure that depends on the interaction between multiple feedback mechanisms operating on different spatial scales and time-scales: any single feedback mechanism fails to reproduce the winds observed. We use our simulations to provide fitting functions to the wind mass loading and velocities as a function of galaxy properties, for use in cosmological

Chemical evolution in spiral and irregular galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Torres-Peimbert, S.

1986-01-01

A brief review of models of chemical evolution of the interstellar medium in our galaxy and other galaxies is presented. These models predict the time variation and radial dependence of chemical composition in the gas as function of the input parameters; initial mass function, stellar birth rate, chemical composition of mass lost by stars during their evolution (yields), and the existence of large scale mass flows, like infall from the halo, outflow to the intergalactic medium or radial flows within a galaxy. At present there is a considerable wealth of observational data on the composition of HII regions in spiral and irregular galaxies to constrain the models. Comparisons are made between theory and the observed physical conditions. In particular, studies of helium, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen abundances are reviewed. In many molecular clouds the information we have on the amount of H2 is derived from the observed CO column density, and a standard CO/H2 ratio derived for the solar neighborhood. Chemical evolution models and the observed variations in O/H and N/O values, point out the need to include these results in a CO/H2 relation that should be, at least, a function of the O/H ratio. This aspect is also discussed.

The Column Density Distribution and Continuum Opacity of the Intergalactic and Circumgalactic Medium at Redshift langzrang = 2.4

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rudie, Gwen C.; Steidel, Charles C.; Shapley, Alice E.; Pettini, Max

2013-06-01

We present new high-precision measurements of the opacity of the intergalactic and circumgalactic medium (IGM; CGM) at langzrang = 2.4. Using Voigt profile fits to the full Lyα and Lyβ forests in 15 high-resolution high-S/N spectra of hyperluminous QSOs, we make the first statistically robust measurement of the frequency of absorbers with H I column densities 14 \\lesssim log (N_H\\,\\scriptsize{ I}/ {cm}^{-2}) \\lesssim 17.2. We also present the first measurements of the frequency distribution of H I absorbers in the volume surrounding high-z galaxies (the CGM, 300 pkpc), finding that the incidence of absorbers in the CGM is much higher than in the IGM. In agreement with Rudie et al., we find that there are fractionally more high-N H I absorbers than low-N H I absorbers in the CGM compared to the IGM, leading to a shallower power law fit to the CGM frequency distribution. We use these new measurements to calculate the total opacity of the IGM and CGM to hydrogen-ionizing photons, finding significantly higher opacity than most previous studies, especially from absorbers with log (N_H\\,\\scriptsize{ I}/ {cm}^{-2}) < 17.2. Reproducing the opacity measured in our data as well as the incidence of absorbers with log (N_H\\,\\scriptsize{ I}/ {cm}^{-2}) \\gt 17.2 requires a broken power law parameterization of the frequency distribution with a break near N H I ≈1015 cm-2. We compute new estimates of the mean free path (λmfp) to hydrogen-ionizing photons at z em = 2.4, finding λmfp = 147 ± 15 Mpc when considering only IGM opacity. If instead, we consider photons emanating from a high-z star-forming galaxy and account for the local excess opacity due to the surrounding CGM of the galaxy itself, the mean free path is reduced to λmfp = 121 ± 15 Mpc. These λmfp measurements are smaller than recent estimates and should inform future studies of the metagalactic UV background and of ionizing sources at z ≈ 2-3. Based on data obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory

WISE Beholds a Pair of Dancing Galaxies

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-01-13

This image from NASA Wide-Field Infrared Explorer features two stunning galaxies engaged in an intergalactic dance. The galaxies, Messier 81 and Messier 82, swept by each other a few hundred million years ago.

The H I content of non-isolated galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zasov, Anatoli V.

1990-01-01

It seems obvious that the evolution of star formation rate and hence of gas content in galaxies strongly depends on their environment. It reveals itself in particular in enhanced star formation or even in a strong burst of activity of massive stars often observed in interacting galaxies. Nevertheless it should be noted that the time scale for the gas to be exhausted in these galaxies is unknown even approximately. To clarify a role of surroundings in the evolution of disk galaxies we should compare the H I content of isolated and non-isolated galaxies otherwise similar by their properties. It is concluded that there are no systematic differences between H I content in isolated and non-isolated late-type galaxies; in spite of the differences of star formation rates their hydrogen mass is determined by slowly evolving kinematic parameters of the disk. Enhanced star formation in interacting galaxies, if it lasts long enough, must have an initial mass function enriched in massive stars in order not to significantly reduce the supply of gas. Certainly these conclusions are not valid for galaxies which are members of rich clusters such as Virgo or Coma, where H I-deficiency really exists, possibly due to the interaction of interstellar H I with hot intergalactic gas.

A Determination of the Intergalactic Redshift Dependent UV-Optical-NIR Photon Density Using Deep Galaxy Survey Data and the Gamma-Ray Opacity of the Universe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stecker, Floyd W.

2012-01-01

We calculate the intensity and photon spectrum of the intergalactic background light (IBL) as a function of red shift using an approach based on observational data obtained at in different wavelength bands from local to deep galaxy surveys. Our empirically based approach allows us, for the firs.t time, to obtain a completely model independent determination of the IBL and to quantify its uncertainties. Using our results on the IBL, we then place upper and lower limits on the opacity of the universe to gamma-rays, independent of previous constraints.

X-Ray Constraints on the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kuntz, K. D.; Snowden, S. I.; Mushotzky, R. F.; White, Nicholas E. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

Three observational constraints can be placed on a warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) using ROSAT Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC) pointed and survey data, the emission strength, the energy spectrum, and the fluctuation spectrum. The upper limit to the emission strength of the WHIM is 7.5 +/- 1.0 keV/(s*sq cm*sr*keV) in the 3/4 keV band, an unknown portion of which value may be due to our own Galactic halo. The spectral stape of the WHIM emission can be described as thermal emission with logT = 6.42, although the true spectrum is more likely to come from a range of temperatures. The values of emission strength and spectral shape are in reasonable agreement with hydrodynamical cosmological models. The autocorrelation function in the 0.44 keV < E < 1.21 keV band range, w(theta), for the extragalactic soft X-ray background (SXRB) which includes both the WHIM and contributions due to point sources, is approx. < 0.002 for 10 min < 0 < 20 min in the 3/4 keV band. This value is lower than the Croft et al. (2000) cosmological model by a factor of approx. 5, but is still not inconsistent with cosmological models. It is also found that the normalization of the extragalactic power law component of the soft X-ray background spectrum must be 9.5 +/- 0.9 keV/(s*sq cm*sr*keV) to be consistent with the ROSAT All-Sky Survey.

Star Formation in Hi Tails: HCG 92, HCG 100 and 6 Interacting Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

deMello, D. F.; Urrutia-Viscarra, F.; MendesdeOliveira, C.; Torres-Flores, S.; Carrasco, E. R.; Cypriano, E.

2012-01-01

We present new Gemini spectra of 14 new objects found within the HI tails of Hickson Compact Groups 92 and 100. Nine of them are GALEX Far-UV (FUV) and Near-UV (NUV) sources. The spectra confirm that these objects are members of the compact groups and have metallicities close to solar, with an average value of 12+log(O/H)approx.8.5. They have average FUV luminosities 7 x 10(exp 40) erg/s, very young ages (< 100 Myr) and two of them resemble tidal dwarf galaxies (TDGs) candidates. We suggest that they were created within gas clouds that were ejected during galaxy-galaxy interactions into the intergalactic medium, which would explain the high metallicities of the objects, inherited from the parent galaxies from which the gas originated. We conduct a search for similar objects in 6 interacting systems with extended HI tails, NGC 2623, NGC 3079, NGC 3359, NGC 3627, NGC 3718, NGC 4656. We found 35 UV sources with ages < 100 Myr, however most of them are on average less luminous/massive than the UV sources found around HCG 92 and 100. We speculate that this might be an environmental effect and that compact groups of galaxies are more favorable to TDG formation than other interacting systems.

The Sensitive Side of Galaxy Formation: How sub-L* Galaxies Accrete, Form Stars, and Enrich the IGM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oppenheimer, Benjamin

2012-10-01

We propose a series of cosmological zoom simulations specifically targeting the formation and evolution of dwarf and sub-L* galaxies living in halos of 10^11- 10^12 solar masses. The shallow potential wells and low-density environments of these halos provide uniquely sensitive laboratories to understand the physics of galactic feedback, as well as the thermal history of the intergalactic medium, from which these galaxies accrete. Given that 129 orbits of Cycle 18 COS data probing such halos is now being completed, combined with the insufficiency of current cosmological simulations to resolve these halos, the theory is lagging the data. We will remedy this by running zoom simulations of individual halos with 1000-10,000 times greater mass resolution than current cosmological simulations used for similar studies. We aim to resolve the sub-kpc scale of high-velocity cloud-like structures and <100 pc scales of the interstellar medium. We will simulate circumgalactic quasar absorption metal-line and H I statistics using our novel non-equilibrium ionization solver that follows individual ionic states. We will also investigate the delicate balance of accretion, star formation, and feedback required to reproduce the observed stellar properties of these small galaxies. In the spirit of transparency, we will make our simulation results available on a public website to encourage new projects and collaborations with observers and theorists understanding the physics regulating galaxy growth.

The Interstellar Medium in External Galaxies: Summaries of contributed papers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hollenbach, David J. (Editor); Thronson, Harley A., Jr. (Editor)

1990-01-01

The Second Wyoming Conference entitled, The Interstellar Medium in External Galaxies, was held on July 3 to 7, 1989, to discuss the current understanding of the interstellar medium in external galaxies and to analyze the basic physical processes underlying interstellar phenomena. The papers covered a broad range of research on the gas and dust in external galaxies and focused on such topics as the distribution and morphology of the atomic, molecular, and dust components; the dynamics of the gas and the role of the magnetic field in the dynamics; elemental abundances and gas depletions in the atomic and ionized components; cooling flows; star formation; the correlation of the nonthermal radio continuum with the cool component of the interstellar medium; the origin and effect of hot galactic halos; the absorption line systems seen in distant quasars; and the effect of galactic collisions.

The Origin of Dwarf Early-Type Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toloba, Elisa

2012-10-01

Abridge. We have conducted a spectrophotometric study of dwarf early-type galaxies (dEs) in the Virgo cluster and in regions of lower density. We have found that these galaxies show many properties in common with late-type galaxies but not with more massive early-types (E/S0). The properties of the dEs in Virgo show gradients within the cluster. dEs in the outer parts of the Virgo cluster are kinematically supported by rotation, while those in the center are supported by the random motions of their stars (i.e. pressure supported). The rotationally supported dEs have disky isophotes and faint underlying spiral/irregular substructures, they also show younger ages than those pressure supported, which have boxy isophotes and are smooth and regular, without any substructure. We compare the position of these dEs with massive early-type galaxies in the Faber-Jackson and Fundamental Plane relations, and we find that, although there is no difference between the position of rotationally and pressure supported dEs, both deviate from the relations of massive early-type galaxies in the direction of dwarf spheroidal systems (dSphs). We have used their offset with respect to the Fundamental Plane of E/S0 galaxies to estimate their dark matter fraction. All the properties studied in this work agree with a ram pressure stripping scenario, where late-type galaxies infall into the cluster, their interaction with the intergalactic medium blows away their gas and, as a result, they are quenched in a small amount of time. However, those dEs in the center of the cluster seem to have been fully transformed leaving no trace of their possible spiral origin, thus, if that is the case, they must have experienced a more violent mechanism in combination with ram pressure stripping.

Discrete clouds of neutral gas between the galaxies M31 and M33.

PubMed

Wolfe, Spencer A; Pisano, D J; Lockman, Felix J; McGaugh, Stacy S; Shaya, Edward J

2013-05-09

Spiral galaxies must acquire gas to maintain their observed level of star formation beyond the next few billion years. A source of this material may be the gas that resides between galaxies, but our understanding of the state and distribution of this gas is incomplete. Radio observations of the Local Group of galaxies have revealed hydrogen gas extending from the disk of the galaxy M31 at least halfway to M33. This feature has been interpreted to be the neutral component of a condensing intergalactic filament, which would be able to fuel star formation in M31 and M33, but simulations suggest that such a feature could also result from an interaction between both galaxies within the past few billion years (ref. 5). Here we report radio observations showing that about 50 per cent of this gas is composed of clouds, with the rest distributed in an extended, diffuse component. The clouds have velocities comparable to those of M31 and M33, and have properties suggesting that they are unrelated to other Local Group objects. We conclude that the clouds are likely to be transient condensations of gas embedded in an intergalactic filament and are therefore a potential source of fuel for future star formation in M31 and M33.

The evolving intergalactic medium - The uncollapsed baryon fraction in a cold dark matter universe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shapiro, Paul R.; Giroux, Mark L.; Babul, Arif

1991-01-01

The time-varying density of the intergalactic medium (IGM) is calculated by coupling detailed numerical calculations of the thermal and ionization balance and radiative transfer in a uniform IGM of H and He to the linearized equations for the growth of density fluctuations in both gases and a dark component in a cold dark matter universe. The IGM density is identified with the collapsed baryon fraction. It is found that even if the IGM is never reheated, a significant fraction of the baryons remain uncollapsed at redshifts of four. If instead the collapsed fraction releases enough ionizing radiation or thermal energy to reionize the IGM by z greater than four as required by the Gunn-Peterson (GP) constraint, the uncollapsed fraction at z of four is even higher. The known quasar distribution is insufficient to supply the ionizing radiation necessary to satisfy the GP constraint in this case and, if stars are instead responsible, a substantial metallicity must have been produced by z of four.

Photodissociation Regions in the Interstellar Medium of Galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hollenbach, David J.; Tielens, A. G. G. M.; DeVincenzi, Donald L. (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

The interstellar medium of galaxies is the reservoir out of which stars are born and into which stars inject newly created elements as they age. The physical properties of the interstellar medium are governed in part by the radiation emitted by these stars. Far-ultraviolet (6 eV less than h(nu) less than 13.6 eV) photons from massive stars dominate the heating and influence the chemistry of the neutral atomic gas and much of the molecular gas in galaxies. Predominantly neutral regions of the interstellar medium in which the heating and chemistry are regulated by far ultraviolet photons are termed Photo-Dissociation Regions (PDRs). These regions are the origin of most of the non-stellar infrared (IR) and the millimeter and submillimeter CO emission from galaxies. The importance of PDRs has become increasingly apparent with advances in IR and submillimeter astronomy. The IR emission from PDRs includes fine structure lines of C, C+, and O; rovibrational lines of H2, rotational lines of CO; broad middle features of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; and a luminous underlying IR continuum from interstellar dust. The transition of H to H2 and C+ to CO occurs within PDRs. Comparison of observations with theoretical models of PDRs enables one to determine the density and temperature structure, the elemental abundances, the level of ionization, and the radiation field. PDR models have been applied to interstellar clouds near massive stars, planetary nebulae, red giant outflows, photoevaporating planetary disks around newly formed stars, diffuse clouds, the neutral intercloud medium, and molecular clouds in the interstellar radiation field-in summary, much of the interstellar medium in galaxies. Theoretical PDR models explain the observed correlations of the [CII] 158 microns with the COJ = 1-0 emission, the COJ = 1-0 luminosity with the interstellar molecular mass, and the [CII] 158 microns plus [OI] 63 microns luminosity with the IR continuum luminosity. On a more global

Cosmic ray interactions in starbursting galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoast-Hull, Tova M.

High quality gamma-ray and radio observations of nearby galaxies offer an unprecedented opportunity to quantitatively study the properties of their cosmic ray populations. Accounting for various interactions and energy losses, I developed a multi-component, single-zone model of the cosmic ray populations in the central molecular zones of star-forming galaxies. Using observational knowledge of the interstellar medium and star formation, I successfully predicted the radio, gamma-ray, and neutrino spectra for nearby starbursts. Using chi-squared tests to compare the models with observational radio and gamma-ray data, I placed constraints on magnetic field strengths, cosmic ray energy densities, and galactic wind (advection) speeds. The initial models were applied to and tested on the prototypical starburst galaxy M82. To further test the model and to explore the differences in environment between starbursts and active galactic nuclei, I studied NGC 253 and NGC 1068, both nearby giant spiral galaxies which have been detected in gamma-rays. Additionally, I demonstrated that the excess GeV energy gamma-ray emission in the Galactic Center is likely not diffuse emission from an additional population of cosmic rays accelerated in supernova remnants. Lastly, I investigated cosmic ray populations in the starburst nuclei of Arp 220, a nearby ultraluminous infrared galaxy which displays a high-intensity mode of star formation more common in young galaxies, and I showed that the nuclei are efficient cosmic-ray proton calorimeters.

A Search for X-ray Emission in Isolated Compact Triplets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Beth A.; Williams, Barbara

2006-01-01

We describe preliminary results of an exploratory search for diffuse X-ray emission in a sample of the poorest galaxy groups, i.e., isolated compact triplets of galaxies. These systems represent the simplest forms of galaxy clustering while manifesting all the complexities inherent in other groups. We have selected 20 compact triplets for this initial study. The component galaxies are expected to interact with each other and with the group's intergalactic medium, if present, in complex ways that trigger high-energy processes.

Enriching the hot circumgalactic medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crain, Robert A.; McCarthy, Ian G.; Schaye, Joop; Theuns, Tom; Frenk, Carlos S.

2013-07-01

Simple models of galaxy formation in a cold dark matter universe predict that massive galaxies are surrounded by a hot, quasi-hydrostatic circumgalactic corona of slowly cooling gas, predominantly accreted from the intergalactic medium (IGM). This prediction is borne out by the recent cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of Crain et al., which reproduce observed scaling relations between the X-ray and optical properties of nearby disc galaxies. Such coronae are metal poor, but observations of the X-ray emitting circumgalactic medium (CGM) of local galaxies typically indicate enrichment to near-solar iron abundance, potentially signalling a shortcoming in current models of galaxy formation. We show here that, while the hot CGM of galaxies formed in the simulations is typically metal poor in a mass-weighted sense, its X-ray luminosity-weighted metallicity is often close to solar. This bias arises because the soft X-ray emissivity of a typical ˜0.1 keV corona is dominated by collisionally excited metal ions that are synthesized in stars and recycled into the hot CGM. We find that these metals are ejected primarily by stars that form in situ to the main progenitor of the galaxy, rather than in satellites or external galaxies. The enrichment of the hot CGM therefore proceeds in an `inside-out' fashion throughout the assembly of the galaxy: metals are transported from the central galaxy by supernova-driven winds and convection over several Gyr, establishing a strong negative radial metallicity gradient. Whilst metal ions synthesized by stars are necessary to produce the X-ray emissivity that enables the hot CGM of isolated galaxies to be detected with current instrumentation, the electrons that collisionally excite them are equally important. Since our simulations indicate that the electron density of hot coronae is dominated by the metal-poor gas accreted from the IGM, we infer that the hot CGM observed via X-ray emission is the outcome of both hierarchical

Voyager investigation of the cosmic diffuse background: Observations of rocket-studied locations with Voyager

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Henry, Richard C.

1994-01-01

Attachments to this final report include 2 papers connected with the Voyager work: 'Voyager Observations of Dust Scattering Near the Coalsack Nebula' and 'Search for the Intergalactic Medium'. An appendix of 12 one-page write-ups prepared in connection with another program, UVISI, is also included. The one-page write-ups are: (1) Sky survey of UV point sources to 600 times fainter than previous (TD-1) survey; (2) Diffuse galactic light: starlight scattered from dust at high galactic latitude; (3) Optical properties of interstellar grains; (4) Fluorescence of molecular hydrogen in the interstellar medium; (5) Line emission from hot interstellar medium and/or hot halo of galaxy; (6) Integrated light of distant galaxies in the ultraviolet; (7) Intergalactic far-ultraviolet radiation field; (8) Radiation from recombining intergalactic medium; (9) Radiation from re-heating of intergalactic medium following recombination; (10) Radiation from radiative decay of dark matter candidates (neutrino, etc.); (11) Reflectivity of the asteroids in the Ultraviolet; and (12) Zodiacal light.

The Duration of Starbursts in Eighteen Nearby Dwarf Starburst Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McQuinn, Kristen B.; Skillman, E. D.; Cannon, J. M.; Dalcanton, J.; Dolphin, A.; Hidalgo-Rodriguez, S.; Holtzman, J.; Stark, D.

2009-05-01

The duration of a starburst is a fundamental parameter affecting the evolution of galaxies yet, to date, observational constraints on the durations of starbursts are not well established. We present the recent star formation histories (SFHs) of 18 nearby dwarf galaxies and rigorously quantify the duration of their starburst events using a uniform and consistent approach. We find that the bursts last on the order of a few 100 Myr resolving the tension between the shorter timescales often derived observationally with the longer timescales derived from dynamical arguments. If this sample of starburst galaxies is representative of bursts in dwarf galaxies, then the short timescales (3 - 10 Myr) associated with starbursts in previous studies are best understood as ``flickering'' events which are simply small components of the larger starburst. Additionally, we study the spatial distribution of the star formation in three systems in more detail. In all three cases, the enhanced star formation moves around the galaxy during the bursts and covers a large fraction of the area of the galaxy. These massive, long duration starbursts appear to be a global phenomenon that can have evolutionary scale impacts on the host galaxies and their surrounding intergalactic medium (IGM).

Galaxy Infall by Interacting with Its Environment: A Comprehensive Study of 340 Galaxy Clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Liyi; Wen, Zhonglue; Gandhi, Poshak; Inada, Naohisa; Kawaharada, Madoka; Kodama, Tadayuki; Konami, Saori; Nakazawa, Kazuhiro; Xu, Haiguang; Makishima, Kazuo

2016-07-01

To study systematically the evolution of the angular extents of the galaxy, intracluster medium (ICM), and dark matter components in galaxy clusters, we compiled the optical and X-ray properties of a sample of 340 clusters with redshifts <0.5, based on all the available data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Chandra/XMM-Newton. For each cluster, the member galaxies were determined primarily with photometric redshift measurements. The radial ICM mass distribution, as well as the total gravitational mass distribution, was derived from a spatially resolved spectral analysis of the X-ray data. When normalizing the radial profile of galaxy number to that of the ICM mass, the relative curve was found to depend significantly on the cluster redshift; it drops more steeply toward the outside in lower-redshift subsamples. The same evolution is found in the galaxy-to-total mass profile, while the ICM-to-total mass profile varies in an opposite way. The behavior of the galaxy-to-ICM distribution does not depend on the cluster mass, suggesting that the detected redshift dependence is not due to mass-related effects, such as sample selection bias. Also, it cannot be ascribed to various redshift-dependent systematic errors. We interpret that the galaxies, the ICM, and the dark matter components had similar angular distributions when a cluster was formed, while the galaxies traveling in the interior of the cluster have continuously fallen toward the center relative to the other components, and the ICM has slightly expanded relative to the dark matter although it suffers strong radiative loss. This cosmological galaxy infall, accompanied by an ICM expansion, can be explained by considering that the galaxies interact strongly with the ICM while they are moving through it. The interaction is considered to create a large energy flow of 1044-45 erg s-1 per cluster from the member galaxies to their environment, which is expected to continue over cosmological timescales.

The Evolution of the Interstellar Medium in the Mildly Disturbed Spiral Galaxy NGC 4647

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, L. M.; Rosolowsky, E.; van Gorkom, J. H.; Lamb, S. A.

2006-10-01

We present matched-resolution maps of H I and CO emission in the Virgo Cluster spiral NGC 4647. The galaxy shows a mild kinematic disturbance in which one side of the rotation curve flattens but the other side continues to rise. This kinematic asymmetry is coupled with a dramatic asymmetry in the molecular gas distribution but not in the atomic gas. An analysis of the gas column densities and the interstellar pressure suggests that the H2/H I surface density ratio on the east side of the galaxy is 3 times higher than expected from the hydrostatic pressure contributed by the mass of the stellar disk. We discuss the probable effects of ram pressure, gravitational interactions, and asymmetric potentials on the interstellar medium and suggest it is likely that a m=1 perturbation in the gravitational potential could be responsible for all of the galaxy's features. Kinematic disturbances of the type seen here are common, but the curious thing about NGC 4647 is that the molecular distribution appears more disturbed than the H I distribution. Thus, it is the combination of the two gas phases that provides such interesting insight into the galaxy's history and into models of the interstellar medium.

Galaxy bachelors, couples, spouses: Star formation in interacting galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Jing; Barger, Kathleen; Richstein, Hannah; SDSS-IV/MaNGA

2017-01-01

We investigate the star formation activity in three galaxy systems in different stages of interaction to determine how the environment of galaxies affects their star forming ability and potential. These systems include an isolated galaxy, a pair of interacting galaxies, and a pair of merging galaxies. All of the target galaxies in these systems have similar stellar masses and similar radii and are at similar redshifts. We trace the star formation activity over the past 1-2 Gyr using spatially and kinematically resolved H-alpha emission, H-alpha equivalent width, and 4000-Angstrom break maps. This work is based on data from the fourth-generation Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV)/Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA), and is part of the Project No.0285 in SDSS-IV.

Figuring Out Gas and Galaxies in Enzo (FOGGIE): Simulating effects of feedback on galactic outflows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morris, Melissa Elizabeth; Corlies, Lauren; Peeples, Molly; Tumlinson, Jason; O'Shea, Brian; Smith, Britton

2018-01-01

The circumgalactic medium (CGM) is the region beyond the galactic disk in which gas is accreted through pristine inflows from the intergalactic medium and expelled from the galaxy by stellar feedback in large outflows that can then be recycled back onto the disk. These gas cycles connect the galactic disk with its cosmic environment, making the CGM a vital component of galaxy evolution. However, the CGM is primarily observed in absorption, which can be difficult to interpret. In this study, we use high resolution cosmological hydrodynamic simulations of a Milky Way mass halo evolved with the code Enzo to aid the interpretation of these observations. In our simulations, we vary feedback strength and observe the effect it has on galactic outflows and the evolution of the galaxy’s CGM. We compare the star formation rate of the galaxy with the velocity flux and mass outflow rate as a function of height above the plane of the galaxy in order to measure the strength of the outflows and how far they extend outside of the galaxy.This work was supported by The Space Astronomy Summer Program at STScI and NSF grant AST-1517908.

Statistical techniques for detecting the intergalactic magnetic field from large samples of extragalactic Faraday rotation data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Akahori, Takuya; Gaensler, B. M.; Ryu, Dongsu, E-mail: akahori@physics.usyd.edu.au, E-mail: bryan.gaensler@sydney.edu.au, E-mail: ryu@sirius.unist.ac.kr

2014-08-01

Rotation measure (RM) grids of extragalactic radio sources have been widely used for studying cosmic magnetism. However, their potential for exploring the intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF) in filaments of galaxies is unclear, since other Faraday-rotation media such as the radio source itself, intervening galaxies, and the interstellar medium of our Galaxy are all significant contributors. We study statistical techniques for discriminating the Faraday rotation of filaments from other sources of Faraday rotation in future large-scale surveys of radio polarization. We consider a 30° × 30° field of view toward the south Galactic pole, while varying the number of sources detectedmore » in both present and future observations. We select sources located at high redshifts and toward which depolarization and optical absorption systems are not observed so as to reduce the RM contributions from the sources and intervening galaxies. It is found that a high-pass filter can satisfactorily reduce the RM contribution from the Galaxy since the angular scale of this component toward high Galactic latitudes would be much larger than that expected for the IGMF. Present observations do not yet provide a sufficient source density to be able to estimate the RM of filaments. However, from the proposed approach with forthcoming surveys, we predict significant residuals of RM that should be ascribable to filaments. The predicted structure of the IGMF down to scales of 0.°1 should be observable with data from the Square Kilometre Array, if we achieve selections of sources toward which sightlines do not contain intervening galaxies and RM errors are less than a few rad m{sup –2}.« less

The Cosmic Baryon Cycle in the FIRE Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anglés-Alcázar, Daniel

2017-07-01

The exchange of mass, energy, and metals between galaxies and their surrounding circumgalactic medium represents an integral part of the modern paradigm of galaxy formation. In this talk, I will present recent progress in understanding the cosmic baryon cycle using cosmological hydrodynamic simulations from the Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE) project. Local stellar feedback processes regulate star formation in galaxies and shape the multi-phase structure of the interstellar medium while driving large-scale outflows that connect galaxies with the circumgalactic medium. I will discuss the efficiency of winds evacuating gas from galaxies, the ubiquity and properties of wind recycling, and the importance of intergalactic transfer, i.e. the exchange of gas between galaxies via winds. I will show that intergalactic transfer can dominate late time gas accretion onto Milky Way-mass galaxies over fresh accretion and standard wind recycling.

High Resolution Spectroscopy of X-ray Quasars: Searching for the X-ray Absorption from the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fang, Taotao; Canizares, Claude R.; Marshall, Herman L.

2004-01-01

We present a survey of six low to moderate redshift quasars with Chandra and XMM-Newton. The primary goal is to search for the narrow X-ray absorption lines produced by highly ionized metals in the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium. All the X-ray spectra can be well fitted by a power law with neutral hydrogen absorption. Only one feature is detected at above 3-sigma level in all the spectra, which is consistent with statistic fluctuation. We discuss the implications in our understanding of the baryon content of the universe. We also discuss the implication of the non-detection of the local (z approx. 0) X-ray absorption.

Accretion by the Galaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Binney, J.; Fraternali, F.

2012-02-01

Cosmology requires at least half of the baryons in the Universe to be in the intergalactic medium, much of which is believed to form hot coronae around galaxies. Star-forming galaxies must be accreting from their coronae. Hi observations of external galaxies show that they have Hi halos associated with star formation. These halos are naturally modelled as ensembles of clouds driven up by supernova bubbles. These models can fit the data successfully only if clouds exchange mass and momentum with the corona. As a cloud orbits, it is ablated and forms a turbulent wake where cold high-metallicity gas mixes with hot coronal gas causing the prompt cooling of the latter. As a consequence the total mass of Hi increases. This model has recently been used to model the Leiden-Argentina-Bonn survey of Galactic Hi. The values of the model's parameters that are required to model NGC 891, NGC 2403 and our Galaxy show a remarkable degree of consistency, despite the very different natures of the two external galaxies and the dramatic difference in the nature of the data for our Galaxy and the external galaxies. The parameter values are also consistent with hydrodynamical simulations of the ablation of individual clouds. The model predicts that a galaxy that loses its cool-gas disc for instance through a major merger cannot reform it from its corona; it can return to steady star formation only if it can capture a large body of cool gas, for example by accreting a gas-rich dwarf. Thus the model explains how major mergers can make galaxies "red and dead."

The morphology of faint galaxies in Medium Deep Survey images using WFPC2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Griffiths, R. E.; Casertano, S.; Ratnatunga, K. U.; Neuschaefer, L. W.; Ellis, R. S.; Gilmore, G. F.; Glazebrook, K.; Santiago, B.; Huchra, J. P.; Windhorst, R. A.

1994-01-01

First results from Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Medium Deep Survey images taken with Wide Field/Planetary Camera-2 (WFPC2) demonstrate that galaxy classifications can be reliably performed to magnitudes I814 approximately less than 22.0 in the F815W band. Published spectroscopic surveys to this depth indicate a mean redshift of bar-z approximately 0.5. We have classified over 200 galaxies in nine WFPC2 fields according to a basic morphological scheme. The majority of these faint galaxies appear to be similar to regular Hubble-sequence examples observed at low redshift. To the precision of our classification scheme, the relative proportion of spheroidal and disk systems of normal appearance is as expected from nearby samples, indicating that the bulk of the local galaxy population was in place at half the Hubble time. However, the most intriguing result is the relatively high proportion (approximately 40%) of objects which are in some way anomalous, and which may be of relevance in understanding the origin of the familiar excess population of faint galaxies established by others. These diverse objects include apparently interacting pairs whose multiple structure is only revealed with HST's angular resolution, galaxies with superluminous star-forming regions, diffuse low surface brightness galaxies of various forms, and compact galaxies. These anomalous galaxies contribute a substantial fraction of the excess counts at our limiting magnitude, and may provide insights into the 'faint blue galaxy' problem.

GALAXY INFALL BY INTERACTING WITH ITS ENVIRONMENT: A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF 340 GALAXY CLUSTERS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gu, Liyi; Wen, Zhonglue; Gandhi, Poshak

To study systematically the evolution of the angular extents of the galaxy, intracluster medium (ICM), and dark matter components in galaxy clusters, we compiled the optical and X-ray properties of a sample of 340 clusters with redshifts <0.5, based on all the available data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Chandra / XMM-Newton . For each cluster, the member galaxies were determined primarily with photometric redshift measurements. The radial ICM mass distribution, as well as the total gravitational mass distribution, was derived from a spatially resolved spectral analysis of the X-ray data. When normalizing the radial profile of galaxymore » number to that of the ICM mass, the relative curve was found to depend significantly on the cluster redshift; it drops more steeply toward the outside in lower-redshift subsamples. The same evolution is found in the galaxy-to-total mass profile, while the ICM-to-total mass profile varies in an opposite way. The behavior of the galaxy-to-ICM distribution does not depend on the cluster mass, suggesting that the detected redshift dependence is not due to mass-related effects, such as sample selection bias. Also, it cannot be ascribed to various redshift-dependent systematic errors. We interpret that the galaxies, the ICM, and the dark matter components had similar angular distributions when a cluster was formed, while the galaxies traveling in the interior of the cluster have continuously fallen toward the center relative to the other components, and the ICM has slightly expanded relative to the dark matter although it suffers strong radiative loss. This cosmological galaxy infall, accompanied by an ICM expansion, can be explained by considering that the galaxies interact strongly with the ICM while they are moving through it. The interaction is considered to create a large energy flow of 10{sup 4445} erg s{sup 1} per cluster from the member galaxies to their environment, which is expected to continue over cosmological

Quantitative Morphology Measures in Galaxies: Ground-Truthing from Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Narayanan, Desika T.; Abruzzo, Matthew W.; Dave, Romeel; Thompson, Robert

2017-01-01

The process of galaxy assembly is a prevalent question in astronomy; there are a variety of potentially important effects, including baryonic accretion from the intergalactic medium, as well as major galaxy mergers. Recent years have ushered in the development of quantitative measures of morphology such as the Gini coefficient (G), the second-order moment of the brightest quintile of a galaxy’s light (M20), and the concentration (C), asymmetry (A), and clumpiness (S) of galaxies. To investigate the efficacy of these observational methods at identifying major mergers, we have run a series of very high resolution cosmological zoom simulations, and coupled these with 3D Monte Carlo dust radiative transfer. Our methodology is powerful in that it allows us to “observe” the simulation as an observer would, while maintaining detailed knowledge of the true merger history of the galaxy. In this presentation, we will present our main results from our analysis of these quantitative morphology measures, with a particular focus on high-redshift (z>2) systems.

What Can Galaxies Tell Us About The Epoch of Reionization?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mason, Charlotte; GLASS, BoRG

2018-01-01

The reionization of neutral hydrogen in the intergalactic medium (IGM) in the universe's first billion years (z>6) was likely driven by the first stars and galaxies, and its history encodes information about their properties. But the timeline of reionization is not well-measured and it is still unclear whether galaxies alone can produce the required ionizing photons. I will describe two key ways in which galaxies at our current observational frontiers can constrain reionization.One tool is the UV luminosity function (LF), which traces the evolution of star-forming galaxies and their ionizing photons. I will describe a Bayesian technique to account for gravitational lensing magnification bias in galaxy surveys to produce accurate LFs. I will then describe a simple, but powerful, model for LF evolution and its implications for reionization and z>10 galaxy surveys with JWST. Secondly, Lyman alpha (Lya) emission from galaxies is a potential probe of the IGM ionization state as Lya photons are strongly attenuated by neutral hydrogen, but requires disentangling physics on pc to Gpc scales. I will introduce a new forward-modeling Bayesian framework which combines cosmological IGM simulations with models of interstellar medium conditions to infer the IGM neutral fraction from observations of Lya emission. I will present our new measurement of the neutral fraction at z~7 and place it in the context of other constraints of the reionization history. I will describe ongoing efforts to build larger samples of Lya emitting galaxies for more accurate measurements with the HST survey GLASS, and will describe future prospects with JWST.

A three-phase amplification of the cosmic magnetic field in galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin-Alvarez, Sergio; Devriendt, Julien; Slyz, Adrianne; Teyssier, Romain

2018-06-01

Arguably the main challenge of galactic magnetism studies is to explain how the interstellar medium of galaxies reaches energetic equipartition despite the extremely weak cosmic primordial magnetic fields that are originally predicted to thread the inter-galactic medium. Previous numerical studies of isolated galaxies suggest that a fast dynamo amplification might suffice to bridge the gap spanning many orders of magnitude in strength between the weak early Universe magnetic fields and the ones observed in high redshift galaxies. To better understand their evolution in the cosmological context of hierarchical galaxy growth, we probe the amplification process undergone by the cosmic magnetic field within a spiral galaxy to unprecedented accuracy by means of a suite of constrained transport magnetohydrodynamical adaptive mesh refinement cosmological zoom simulations with different stellar feedback prescriptions. A galactic turbulent dynamo is found to be naturally excited in this cosmological environment, being responsible for most of the amplification of the magnetic energy. Indeed, we find that the magnetic energy spectra of simulated galaxies display telltale inverse cascades. Overall, the amplification process can be divided in three main phases, which are related to different physical mechanisms driving galaxy evolution: an initial collapse phase, an accretion-driven phase, and a feedback-driven phase. While different feedback models affect the magnetic field amplification differently, all tested models prove to be subdominant at early epochs, before the feedback-driven phase is reached. Thus the three-phase evolution paradigm is found to be quite robust vis-a-vis feedback prescriptions.

Escape of ionizing radiation from high redshift dwarf galaxies: role of AGN feedback

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trebitsch, Maxime; Volonteri, Marta; Dubois, Yohan; Madau, Piero

2018-05-01

While low mass, star forming galaxies are often considered as the primary driver of reionization, their actual contribution to the cosmic ultraviolet background is still uncertain, mostly because the escape fraction of ionizing photons is only poorly constrained. Theoretical studies have shown that efficient supernova feedback is a necessary condition to create paths through which ionizing radiation can escape into the intergalactic medium. We investigate the possibility that accreting supermassive black holes in early dwarf galaxies may provide additional feedback and enhance the leakage of ionizing radiation. We use a series of high resolution cosmological radiation hydrodynamics simulations where we isolate the different sources of feedback. We find that supernova feedback prevents the growth of the black hole, thus quenching its associated feedback. Even in cases where the black hole can grow, the structure of the interstellar medium is strongly dominated by supernova feedback. We conclude that, in the dwarf galaxy regime, supermassive black holes do not appear to play a significant role in enhancing the escape fraction and in contributing to the early UV background.

Determining the Nature of Late Gunn–Peterson Troughs with Galaxy Surveys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davies, Frederick B.; Becker, George D.; Furlanetto, Steven R.

2018-06-01

Recent observations have discovered long (up to ∼110 Mpc/h), opaque Gunn–Peterson troughs in the z ∼ 5.5 Lyα forest, which are challenging to explain with conventional models of the post-reionization intergalactic medium. Here, we demonstrate that observations of the galaxy populations in the vicinity of the deepest troughs can distinguish two competing models for these features: deep voids where the ionizing background is weak due to fluctuations in the mean free path of ionizing photons would show a deficit of galaxies, while residual temperature variations from extended, inhomogeneous reionization would show an overdensity of galaxies. We use large (∼550 Mpc/h) semi-numerical simulations of these competing explanations to predict the galaxy populations in the largest of the known troughs at z ∼ 5.7. We quantify the strong correlation of Lyα effective optical depth and galaxy surface density in both models, and estimate the degree to which realistic surveys can measure such a correlation. While a spectroscopic galaxy survey is ideal, we also show that a relatively inexpensive narrowband survey of Lyα-emitting galaxies is ∼90% likely to distinguish between the competing models.

Revisiting The First Galaxies: The effects of Population III stars on their host galaxies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Muratov, Alexander L.; Gnedin, Oleg Y.; Gnedin, Nickolay Y.

2013-07-12

We revisit the formation and evolution of the first galaxies using new hydrodynamic cosmological simulations with the adaptive refinement tree code. Our simulations feature a recently developed model for H 2 formation and dissociation, and a star formation recipe that is based on molecular rather than atomic gas. Here, we develop and implement a recipe for the formation of metal-free Population III (Pop III) stars in galaxy-scale simulations that resolve primordial clouds with sufficiently high density. We base our recipe on the results of prior zoom-in simulations that resolved the protostellar collapse in pre-galactic objects. We find the epoch duringmore » which Pop III stars dominated the energy and metal budget of the first galaxies to be short-lived. Galaxies that host Pop III stars do not retain dynamical signatures of their thermal and radiative feedback for more than 10 8 years after the lives of the stars end in pair-instability supernovae, even when we consider the maximum reasonable efficiency of the feedback. Though metals ejected by the supernovae can travel well beyond the virial radius of the host galaxy, they typically begin to fall back quickly, and do not enrich a large fraction of the intergalactic medium. Galaxies with a total mass in excess of 3 × 10 6 M ⊙ re-accrete most of their baryons and transition to metal-enriched Pop II star formation.« less

REVISITING THE FIRST GALAXIES: THE EFFECTS OF POPULATION III STARS ON THEIR HOST GALAXIES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Muratov, Alexander L.; Gnedin, Oleg Y.; Zemp, Marcel

2013-08-01

We revisit the formation and evolution of the first galaxies using new hydrodynamic cosmological simulations with the adaptive refinement tree code. Our simulations feature a recently developed model for H{sub 2} formation and dissociation, and a star formation recipe that is based on molecular rather than atomic gas. Here, we develop and implement a recipe for the formation of metal-free Population III (Pop III) stars in galaxy-scale simulations that resolve primordial clouds with sufficiently high density. We base our recipe on the results of prior zoom-in simulations that resolved the protostellar collapse in pre-galactic objects. We find the epoch duringmore » which Pop III stars dominated the energy and metal budget of the first galaxies to be short-lived. Galaxies that host Pop III stars do not retain dynamical signatures of their thermal and radiative feedback for more than 10{sup 8} years after the lives of the stars end in pair-instability supernovae, even when we consider the maximum reasonable efficiency of the feedback. Though metals ejected by the supernovae can travel well beyond the virial radius of the host galaxy, they typically begin to fall back quickly, and do not enrich a large fraction of the intergalactic medium. Galaxies with a total mass in excess of 3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 6} M{sub Sun} re-accrete most of their baryons and transition to metal-enriched Pop II star formation.« less

The Universe's Most Extreme Star-forming Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casey, Caitlin

2017-06-01

Dusty star-forming galaxies host the most intense stellar nurseries in the Universe. Their unusual characteristics (SFRs=200-2000Msun/yr, Mstar>1010 Msun) pose a unique challenge for cosmological simulations and galaxy formation theory, particularly at early times. Although rare today, they were factors of 1000 times more prevalent at z~2-5, contributing significantly to the buildup of the Universe's stellar mass and the formation of high-mass galaxies. At even earlier times (within 1Gyr post Big Bang) they could have played a pivotal role in enriching the IGM. However, an ongoing debate lingers as to their evolutionary origins at high-redshift, whether or not they are triggered by major mergers of gas-rich disk galaxies, or if they are solitary galaxies continually fed pristine gas from the intergalactic medium. Furthermore, their presence in early protoclusters, only revealed quite recently, pose intriguing questions regarding the collapse of large scale structure. I will discuss some of the latest observational programs dedicated to understanding dust-obscuration in and gas content of the early Universe, their context in the cosmic web, and future long-term observing campaigns that may reveal their relationship to `normal’ galaxies, thus teaching us valuable lessons on the physical mechanisms of galaxy growth and the collapse of large scale structure in an evolving Universe.

Hidden interaction in SBO galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Galletta, G.; Bettoni, D.; Oosterloo, T.; Fasano, G.

1990-01-01

Galaxies, like plants, show a large variety of grafts: an individual of some type connects physically with a neighborhood of same or different type. The effects of these interactions between galaxies have a broad range of morphologies depending, among other quantities, on the distance of the closest approach between systems and the relative size of the two galaxies. A sketch of the possible situations is shown in tabular form. This botanical classification is just indicative, because the effects of interactions can be notable also at relatively large separations, when additional conditions are met, as for example low density of the interacting systems or the presence of intra-cluster gas. In spite of the large variety of encounters and effects, in the literature the same terms are often used to refer to different types of interactions. Analysis indicates that only few of the situations show evident signs of interaction. They appear to be most relevant when the size of the two galaxies is comparable. Bridges and tails, like the well known case of NGC 4038/39, the Antennae, are only observed for a very low percentage of all galaxies (approx. 0.38 percent, Arp and Madore 1977). In most cases of gravitational bond between two galaxies, the effects of interactions are not relevant or evident. For instance, the detection of stellar shells (Malin and Carter 1983), which have been attributed to the accretion of gas stripped from another galaxy or to the capture and disruption of a small stellar system (Quinn 1984), requires particular observing and reduction techniques. Besides these difficulties of detection, time plays an important role in erasing, within a massive galaxy, the effects of interactions with smaller objects. This can happen on a timescale shorter than the Hubble time, so the number of systems now showing signs of interaction suggests lower limits to the true frequency of interactions in the life-time of a stellar system.

Intergalactic medium emission observations with the cosmic web imager. II. Discovery of extended, kinematically linked emission around SSA22 Lyα BLOB 2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Christopher Martin, D.; Chang, Daphne; Matuszewski, Matt

The intergalactic medium (IGM) is the dominant reservoir of baryons, delineates the large-scale structure of the universe at low to moderate overdensities, and provides gas from which galaxies form and evolve. Simulations of a cold-dark-matter- (CDM-) dominated universe predict that the IGM is distributed in a cosmic web of filaments and that galaxies should form along and at the intersections of these filaments. While observations of QSO absorption lines and the large-scale distribution of galaxies have confirmed the CDM paradigm, the cosmic web of IGM has never been confirmed by direct imaging. Here we report our observation of the Lyαmore » blob 2 (LAB2) in SSA22 with the Cosmic Web Imager (CWI). This is an integral field spectrograph optimized for low surface brightness, extended emission. With 22 hr of total on- and off-source exposure, CWI has revealed that LAB2 has extended Lyα emission that is organized into azimuthal zones consistent with filaments. We perform numerous tests with simulations and the data to secure the robustness of this result, which relies on data with modest signal-to-noise ratios. We have developed a smoothing algorithm that permits visualization of data cube slices along image or spectral image planes. With both raw and smoothed data cubes we demonstrate that the filaments are kinematically associated with LAB2 and display double-peaked profiles characteristic of optically thick Lyα emission. The flux is 10-20 times brighter than expected for the average emission from the IGM but is consistent with boosted fluorescence from a buried QSO or gravitation cooling radiation. Using simple emission models, we infer a baryon mass in the filaments of at least 1-4 × 10{sup 11} M {sub ☉}, and the dark halo mass is at least 2 × 10{sup 12} M {sub ☉}. The spatial-kinematic morphology is more consistent with inflow from the cosmic web than outflow from LAB2, although an outflow feature maybe present at one azimuth. LAB2 and the surrounding

The origin of dwarf early-type galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toloba, E.

2013-05-01

We have conducted a spectrophotometric study of dwarf early-type galaxies (dEs) in the Virgo cluster and in regions of lower density. We have found that these galaxies show many properties in common with late-type galaxies but not with more massive early-types (E/S0). The properties of the dEs in Virgo show gradients within the cluster. dEs in the outer parts of the Virgo cluster are kinematically supported by rotation, while those in the center are supported by the random motions of their stars (i.e. pressure supported). The rotationally supported dEs have disky isophotes and faint underlying spiral/irregular substructures, they also show younger ages than those pressure supported, which have boxy isophotes and are smooth and regular, without any substructure. We compare the position of these dEs with massive early-type galaxies in the Faber-Jackson and Fundamental Plane relations, and we find that, although there is no difference between the position of rotationally and pressure supported dEs, both deviate from the relations of massive early-type galaxies in the direction of dwarf spheroidal systems (dSphs). We have used their offset with respect to the Fundamental Plane of E/S0 galaxies to estimate their dark matter fraction. All the properties studied in this work agree with a ram pressure stripping scenario, where late-type galaxies infall into the cluster, their interaction with the intergalactic medium blows away their gas and, as a result, they are quenched in a small amount of time. However, those dEs in the center of the cluster seem to have been fully transformed leaving no trace of their possible spiral origin, thus, if that is the case, they must have experienced a more violent mechanism in combination with ram pressure stripping, the open problem is that even galaxy harassment does not fully explain the observed properties for the pressure supported dEs in the center of the Virgo cluster.

Detection of X-ray emission from distant clusters of galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Henry, J. P.; Branduardi, G.; Fabricant, D.; Feigelson, E.; Murray, S.; Tananbaum, H.; Briel, U.; Soltan, A.

1979-01-01

The paper reports the first extensive detection of X-ray emission from clusters of galaxies at cosmological distances. The properties of these objects are similar to those observed in objects at low redshifts. The 0.5-4.5 keV luminosities are in the range of less than 1 x 10 to the 43rd to 2 x 10 to the 45th ergs/s; the core radii are on the order of 0.5 Mpc; and Bautz-Morgan type I clusters are more luminous than types II or III. The observations are consistent with models assuming an evolving cluster potential and moderately efficient galaxy formation, but do not require them when observational selection is considered. X-ray observations of the 3C 295 cluster indicate that there is sufficient intergalactic medium to cause stripping of the cluster spirals, but the colors of these galaxies imply that they have not been stripped. A possible explanation of this discrepancy is discussed.

A Ly{alpha} GALAXY AT REDSHIFT z = 6.944 IN THE COSMOS FIELD

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rhoads, James E.; Hibon, Pascale; Malhotra, Sangeeta

2012-06-20

Ly{alpha} emitting galaxies can be used to study cosmological reionization, because a neutral intergalactic medium (IGM) scatters Ly{alpha} photons into diffuse halos whose surface brightness falls below typical survey detection limits. Here, we present the Ly{alpha} emitting galaxy LAE J095950.99+021219.1, identified at redshift z = 6.944 in the COSMOS field using narrowband imaging and follow-up spectroscopy with the IMACS instrument on the Magellan I Baade telescope. With a single object spectroscopically confirmed so far, our survey remains consistent with a wide range of IGM neutral fraction at z Almost-Equal-To 7, but further observations are planned and will help clarify themore » situation. Meantime, the object we present here is only the third Ly{alpha}-selected galaxy to be spectroscopically confirmed at z {approx}> 7, and is {approx}2-3 times fainter than the previously confirmed z Almost-Equal-To 7 Ly{alpha} galaxies.« less

Evolution of Structure in the Intergalactic Medium and the Nature of the LY-Alpha Forest

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bi, Hongguang; Davidsen, Arthur F.

1997-01-01

We have performed a detailed statistical study of the evolution of structure in a photoionized intergalactic medium (IGM) using analytical simulations to extend the calculation into the mildly nonlinear density regime found to prevail at z = 3. Our work is based on a simple fundamental conjecture: that the probability distribution function of the density of baryonic diffuse matter in the universe is described by a lognormal (LN) random field. The LN distribution has several attractive features and follows plausibly from the assumption of initial linear Gaussian density and velocity fluctuations at arbitrarily early times. Starting with a suitably normalized power spectrum of primordial fluctuations in a universe dominated by cold dark matter (CDM), we compute the behavior of the baryonic matter, which moves slowly toward minima in the dark matter potential on scales larger than the Jeans length. We have computed two models that succeed in matching observations. One is a nonstandard CDM model with OMEGA = 1, h = 0.5, and GAMMA = 0.3, and the other is a low-density flat model with a cosmological constant (LCDM), with OMEGA = 0.4, OMEGA(sub LAMBDA) = 0.6, and h = 0.65. In both models, the variance of the density distribution function grows with time, reaching unity at about z = 4, where the simulation yields spectra that closely resemble the Ly-alpha forest absorption seen in the spectra of high-z quasars. The calculations also successfully predict the observed properties of the Ly-alpha forest clouds and their evolution from z = 4 down to at least z = 2, assuming a constant intensity for the metagalactic UV background over this redshift range. However, in our model the forest is not due to discrete clouds, but rather to fluctuations in a continuous intergalactic medium. At z = 3; typical clouds with measured neutral hydrogen column densities N(sub H I) = 10(exp 13.3), 10(exp 13.5), and 10(exp 11.5) /sq cm correspond to fluctuations with mean total densities

A small-scale dynamo in feedback-dominated galaxies - III. Cosmological simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rieder, Michael; Teyssier, Romain

2017-12-01

Magnetic fields are widely observed in the Universe in virtually all astrophysical objects, from individual stars to entire galaxies, even in the intergalactic medium, but their specific genesis has long been debated. Due to the development of more realistic models of galaxy formation, viable scenarios are emerging to explain cosmic magnetism, thanks to both deeper observations and more efficient and accurate computer simulations. We present here a new cosmological high-resolution zoom-in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation, using the adaptive mesh refinement technique, of a dwarf galaxy with an initially weak and uniform magnetic seed field that is amplified by a small-scale dynamo (SSD) driven by supernova-induced turbulence. As first structures form from the gravitational collapse of small density fluctuations, the frozen-in magnetic field separates from the cosmic expansion and grows through compression. In a second step, star formation sets in and establishes a strong galactic fountain, self-regulated by supernova explosions. Inside the galaxy, the interstellar medium becomes highly turbulent, dominated by strong supersonic shocks, as demonstrated by the spectral analysis of the gas kinetic energy. In this turbulent environment, the magnetic field is quickly amplified via a SSD process and is finally carried out into the circumgalactic medium by a galactic wind. This realistic cosmological simulation explains how initially weak magnetic seed fields can be amplified quickly in early, feedback-dominated galaxies, and predicts, as a consequence of the SSD process, that high-redshift magnetic fields are likely to be dominated by their small-scale components.

The Lyman-alpha signature of the first galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Aaron

2018-01-01

Radiation from the first stars and galaxies initiated the dramatic phase transition marking an end to the cosmic dark ages. The emission and absorption signatures from the Lyman-alpha (Lyα) transition of neutral hydrogen have been indispensable in extending the observational frontier for high-redshift galaxies into the epoch of reionization. Lyα radiative transfer provides clues about the processes leading to Lyα escape from individual galaxies and the subsequent transmission through the intergalactic medium. Cosmological simulations incorporating Lyα radiative transfer enhance our understanding of fundamental physics by supplying the inferred spectra and feedback on the gas. In this talk, I will discuss the dynamical impact of Lyα radiation pressure on galaxy formation throughout cosmic reionization with the first fully coupled Lyα radiation-hydrodynamics simulations. Based on a suite of spherically symmetric models and high-resolution ab initio cosmological simulations we find that Lyα radiation pressure is dynamically important during the assembly of direct collapse black holes (DCBHs), which may be the seeds of the first supermassive black holes in the universe. Finally, I will discuss recent advances in Lyα modeling based on current state-of-the-art simulations and observational insights.

Galaxy mergers moulding the circum-galactic medium - I. The impact of a major merger

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hani, Maan H.; Sparre, Martin; Ellison, Sara L.; Torrey, Paul; Vogelsberger, Mark

2018-03-01

Galaxies are surrounded by sizeable gas reservoirs which host a significant amount of metals: the circum-galactic medium (CGM). The CGM acts as a mediator between the galaxy and the extragalactic medium. However, our understanding of how galaxy mergers, a major evolutionary transformation, impact the CGM remains deficient. We present a theoretical study of the effect of galaxy mergers on the CGM. We use hydrodynamical cosmological zoom-in simulations of a major merger selected from the Illustris project such that the z = 0 descendant has a halo mass and stellar mass comparable to the Milky Way. To study the CGM we then re-simulated this system at a 40 times better mass resolution, and included detailed post-processing ionization modelling. Our work demonstrates the effect the merger has on the characteristic size of the CGM, its metallicity, and the predicted covering fraction of various commonly observed gas-phase species, such as H I, C IV, and O VI. We show that merger-induced outflows can increase the CGM metallicity by 0.2-0.3 dex within 0.5 Gyr post-merger. These effects last up to 6 Gyr post-merger. While the merger increases the total metal covering fractions by factors of 2-3, the covering fractions of commonly observed UV ions decrease due to the hard ionizing radiation from the active galactic nucleus, which we model explicitly. Our study of the single simulated major merger presented in this work demonstrates the significant impact that a galaxy interaction can have on the size, metallicity, and observed column densities of the CGM.

Fluctuations in microwave background radiation due to secondary ionization of the intergalactic gas in the universe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sunyayev, R. A.

1979-01-01

Secondary heating and ionization of the intergalactic gas at redshifts z approximately 10-30 could lead to the large optical depth of the Universe for Thomson scattering and could smooth the primordial fluctuations formed at z approximately 1500. It is shown that the gas motions connected with the large scale density perturbations at z approximately 10-15 must lead to the generation of secondary fluctuations of microwave background. The contribution of the rich clusters of galaxies and young galaxies to the fluctuations of microwave background is also estimated.

Infrared-Bright Interacting Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rojas Ruiz, Sofia; Murphy, Eric Joseph; Armus, Lee; Smith, John-David; Bradford, Charles Matt; Stierwalt, Sabrina

2018-01-01

We present the mid-infrared spectral mapping of eight LIRG-class interacting galaxies: NGC 6670, NGC 7592, IIZw 96, IIIZw 35, Arp 302, Arp 236, Arp 238, Arp 299. The properties of galaxy mergers, which are bright and can be studied at high resolutions at low-z, provide local analogs for sources that may be important contributors to the Far Infrared Background (FIRB.) In order to study star formation and the physical conditions in the gas and dust in our sample galaxies, we used the Spitzer InfraRed Spectrograph (IRS) to map the galaxies over the 5-35 μm window to trace the PAH, molecular hydrogen, and atomic fine structure line emission on scales of 1.4 – 5.3 kpc. Here we present the reduction for low and high-resolution data, and preliminary results in the analysis of fine structure line ratios and dust features in the two nuclei and interacting regions from one of our sample galaxies, NGC 6670.

A Determination of the Intergalactic Redshift Dependent UV-Optical-NIR Photon Density Using Deep Galaxy Survey Data and the Gamma-ray Opacity of the Universe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stecker, Floyd W.; Malkan, Matthew A.; Scully, Sean T.

2012-01-01

We calculate the intensity and photon spectrum of the intergalactic background light (IBL) as a function of redshift using an approach based on observational data obtained in many different wavelength bands from local to deep galaxy surveys. This allows us to obtain an empirical determination of the IBL and to quantify its observationally based uncertainties. Using our results on the IBL, we then place 68% confidence upper and lower limits on the opacity of the universe to gamma-rays, free of the theoretical assumptions that were needed for past calculations. We compare our results with measurements of the extragalactic background light and upper limits obtained from observations made by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.

The baryonic mass function of galaxies.

PubMed

Read, J I; Trentham, Neil

2005-12-15

In the Big Bang about 5% of the mass that was created was in the form of normal baryonic matter (neutrons and protons). Of this about 10% ended up in galaxies in the form of stars or of gas (that can be in molecules, can be atomic, or can be ionized). In this work, we measure the baryonic mass function of galaxies, which describes how the baryonic mass is distributed within galaxies of different types (e.g. spiral or elliptical) and of different sizes. This can provide useful constraints on our current cosmology, convolved with our understanding of how galaxies form. This work relies on various large astronomical surveys, e.g. the optical Sloan Digital Sky Survey (to observe stars) and the HIPASS radio survey (to observe atomic gas). We then perform an integral over our mass function to determine the cosmological density of baryons in galaxies: Omega(b,gal)=0.0035. Most of these baryons are in stars: Omega(*)=0.0028. Only about 20% are in gas. The error on the quantities, as determined from the range obtained between different methods, is ca 10%; systematic errors may be much larger. Most (ca 90%) of the baryons in the Universe are not in galaxies. They probably exist in a warm/hot intergalactic medium. Searching for direct observational evidence and deeper theoretical understanding for this will form one of the major challenges for astronomy in the next decade.

Observational Searches for Star-Forming Galaxies at z > 6

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finkelstein, Steven L.

2016-08-01

Although the universe at redshifts greater than six represents only the first one billion years (< 10%) of cosmic time, the dense nature of the early universe led to vigorous galaxy formation and evolution activity which we are only now starting to piece together. Technological improvements have, over only the past decade, allowed large samples of galaxies at such high redshifts to be collected, providing a glimpse into the epoch of formation of the first stars and galaxies. A wide variety of observational techniques have led to the discovery of thousands of galaxy candidates at z > 6, with spectroscopically confirmed galaxies out to nearly z = 9. Using these large samples, we have begun to gain a physical insight into the processes inherent in galaxy evolution at early times. In this review, I will discuss (i) the selection techniques for finding distant galaxies, including a summary of previous and ongoing ground and space-based searches, and spectroscopic follow-up efforts, (ii) insights into galaxy evolution gleaned from measures such as the rest-frame ultraviolet luminosity function, the stellar mass function, and galaxy star-formation rates, and (iii) the effect of galaxies on their surrounding environment, including the chemical enrichment of the universe, and the reionisation of the intergalactic medium. Finally, I conclude with prospects for future observational study of the distant universe, using a bevy of new state-of-the-art facilities coming online over the next decade and beyond.

A violent interaction between the dwarf galaxy UGC 7636 and the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 4472

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcnamara, Brian R.; Sancisi, Renzo; Henning, Patricia A.; Junor, William

1994-01-01

We present new U, B, R, and H I imagery of the Virgo Cluster giant elliptical galaxy NGC 4472 and its interacting dwarf companion galaxy UGC 7636. Using a composite image reconstruction technique, we show that a trail of debris approx. 5 arcmin in length and approx. 1 arcmin in width (30x6 kpc for a Virgo cluster distance of 20 Mpc) is projected northward from the dwarf galaxy. A cloud of H I is projected along the northwest edge of the debris between the dwarf and gE. The dwarf's nuclear morphology is irregular and bow-shaped on what appears to be its leading edge. Apart from a number of isolated blue regions, most of of the trailing debris is similar in color to the dwarf's nucleus. Only a modest enhancement of star formation appears to have been induced by the interaction. Although separated by 15 kpc, the H I and stellar morphologies are remarkably similar. The stars and H I appear to have been tidally distorted in situ, prior to the cloud's removal by ram pressure. If the H I has maintained its shape by magnetic support, a magnetic field strength an order of magnitude larger than the galaxy's is required. Ram pressure deceleration due to the cloud's motion through NGC 4472's x-ray-emitting interstellar medium shold be sufficient for the cloud to become gravitationally bound to NGC 4472. The H I cloud is not self-gravitating and may fragment and be destroyed in the interaction. UGC 7636 will probably be disrupted by NGC 4472's strong tidal forces; the stellar debris will disperse into the Virgo cluster or become bound to NGC 4472's halo on eccentric orbits. The debris captured in the collision will have a negligible impact on NGC 4472's stellar and gaseous content. On the other hand, if similar interactions are common in giant elliptical galaxies, they could alter or deplete surrounding dwarf galaxy populations, fuel bursts of nuclear activity, and perhaps provide a source of magnetic energy to their interstellar media.

Powerful Radio Sources with Simbol-X: The Nucleus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grandi, Paola

2009-05-01

The black holes in the hearts of bright elliptical galaxies are commonly observed to be associated with powerful relativistic jets. The mechanism by which material entering the accretion radius is converted into jet power remains the subject of much debate. At the same time, the interplay between the relativistic jet and the interstellar/intergalactic medium is the topic of intense discussions, being such knowledge essential for understanding the nature of the accretion process, galaxy formation and the growth of supermassive black holes. Simbol-X can play a fundamental role in addressing at least three important questions: I) the link between accretion and relativistic outflow at interaction of the relativistic plasma with the intergalactic medium at kpc scales (Migliori et al., this conference)

Intergalactic Travel Bureau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koski, Olivia; Rosin, Mark; Guerilla Science Team

2014-03-01

The Intergalactic Travel Bureau is an interactive theater outreach experience that engages the public in the incredible possibilities of space tourism. The Bureau is staffed by professional actors, who play the role of space travel agents, and professional astrophysicists, who play the role of resident scientists. Members of the public of all ages were invited to visit with bureau staff to plan the vacation of their dreams-to space. We describe the project's successful nine day run in New York in August 2013. Funded by the American Physical Society Public Outreach and Informing the Public Grants.

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the signatures of galaxy interactions as viewed from small scale galaxy clustering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gunawardhana, M. L. P.; Norberg, P.; Zehavi, I.; Farrow, D. J.; Loveday, J.; Hopkins, A. M.; Davies, L. J. M.; Wang, L.; Alpaslan, M.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Brough, S.; Holwerda, B. W.; Owers, M. S.; Wright, A. H.

2018-06-01

Statistical studies of galaxy-galaxy interactions often utilise net change in physical properties of progenitors as a function of the separation between their nuclei to trace both the strength and the observable timescale of their interaction. In this study, we use two-point auto, cross and mark correlation functions to investigate the extent to which small-scale clustering properties of star forming galaxies can be used to gain physical insight into galaxy-galaxy interactions between galaxies of similar optical brightness and stellar mass. The Hα star formers, drawn from the highly spatially complete Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey, show an increase in clustering on small separations. Moreover, the clustering strength shows a strong dependence on optical brightness and stellar mass, where (1) the clustering amplitude of optically brighter galaxies at a given separation is larger than that of optically fainter systems, (2) the small scale clustering properties (e.g. the strength, the scale at which the signal relative to the fiducial power law plateaus) of star forming galaxies appear to differ as a function of increasing optical brightness of galaxies. According to cross and mark correlation analyses, the former result is largely driven by the increased dust content in optically bright star forming galaxies. The latter could be interpreted as evidence of a correlation between interaction-scale and optical brightness of galaxies, where physical evidence of interactions between optically bright star formers, likely hosted within relatively massive halos, persist over larger separations than those between optically faint star formers.

Eight per cent leakage of Lyman continuum photons from a compact, star-forming dwarf galaxy.

PubMed

Izotov, Y I; Orlitová, I; Schaerer, D; Thuan, T X; Verhamme, A; Guseva, N G; Worseck, G

2016-01-14

One of the key questions in observational cosmology is the identification of the sources responsible for ionization of the Universe after the cosmic 'Dark Ages', when the baryonic matter was neutral. The currently identified distant galaxies are insufficient to fully reionize the Universe by redshift z ≈ 6 (refs 1-3), but low-mass, star-forming galaxies are thought to be responsible for the bulk of the ionizing radiation. As direct observations at high redshift are difficult for a variety of reasons, one solution is to identify local proxies of this galaxy population. Starburst galaxies at low redshifts, however, generally are opaque to Lyman continuum photons. Small escape fractions of about 1 to 3 per cent, insufficient to ionize much surrounding gas, have been detected only in three low-redshift galaxies. Here we report far-ultraviolet observations of the nearby low-mass star-forming galaxy J0925+1403. The galaxy is leaking ionizing radiation with an escape fraction of about 8 per cent. The total number of photons emitted during the starburst phase is sufficient to ionize intergalactic medium material that is about 40 times as massive as the stellar mass of the galaxy.

Dark-ages reionization and galaxy formation simulation - III. Modelling galaxy formation and the epoch of reionization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mutch, Simon J.; Geil, Paul M.; Poole, Gregory B.; Angel, Paul W.; Duffy, Alan R.; Mesinger, Andrei; Wyithe, J. Stuart B.

2016-10-01

We introduce MERAXES, a new, purpose-built semi-analytic galaxy formation model designed for studying galaxy growth during reionization. MERAXES is the first model of its type to include a temporally and spatially coupled treatment of reionization and is built upon a custom (100 Mpc)3 N-body simulation with high temporal and mass resolution, allowing us to resolve the galaxy and star formation physics relevant to early galaxy formation. Our fiducial model with supernova feedback reproduces the observed optical depth to electron scattering and evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function between z = 5 and 7, predicting that a broad range of halo masses contribute to reionization. Using a constant escape fraction and global recombination rate, our model is unable to simultaneously match the observed ionizing emissivity at z ≲ 6. However, the use of an evolving escape fraction of 0.05-0.1 at z ˜ 6, increasing towards higher redshift, is able to satisfy these three constraints. We also demonstrate that photoionization suppression of low-mass galaxy formation during reionization has only a small effect on the ionization history of the intergalactic medium. This lack of `self-regulation' arises due to the already efficient quenching of star formation by supernova feedback. It is only in models with gas supply-limited star formation that reionization feedback is effective at regulating galaxy growth. We similarly find that reionization has only a small effect on the stellar mass function, with no observationally detectable imprint at M* > 107.5 M⊙. However, patchy reionization has significant effects on individual galaxy masses, with variations of factors of 2-3 at z = 5 that correlate with environment.

A DETERMINATION OF THE INTERGALACTIC REDSHIFT-DEPENDENT ULTRAVIOLET-OPTICAL-NIR PHOTON DENSITY USING DEEP GALAXY SURVEY DATA AND THE GAMMA-RAY OPACITY OF THE UNIVERSE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stecker, Floyd W.; Malkan, Matthew A.; Scully, Sean T., E-mail: Floyd.W.Stecker@nasa.gov, E-mail: malkan@astro.ucla.edu, E-mail: scullyst@jmu.edu

2012-12-20

We calculate the intensity and photon spectrum of the intergalactic background light (IBL) as a function of redshift using an approach based on observational data obtained in many different wavelength bands from local to deep galaxy surveys. This allows us to obtain an empirical determination of the IBL and to quantify its observationally based uncertainties. Using our results on the IBL, we then place 68% confidence upper and lower limits on the opacity of the universe to {gamma}-rays, free of the theoretical assumptions that were needed for past calculations. We compare our results with measurements of the extragalactic background lightmore » and upper limits obtained from observations made by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.« less

Probing the tides in interacting galaxy pairs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Borne, Kirk D.

1990-01-01

Detailed spectroscopic and imaging observations of colliding elliptical galaxies revealed unmistakable diagnostic signatures of the tidal interactions. It is possible to compare both the distorted luminosity distributions and the disturbed internal rotation profiles with numerical simulations in order to model the strength of the tidal gravitational field acting within a given pair of galaxies. Using the best-fit numerical model, one can then measure directly the mass of a specific interacting binary system. This technique applies to individual pairs and therefore complements the classical methods of measuring the masses of galaxy pairs in well-defined statistical samples. The 'personalized' modeling of galaxy pairs also permits the derivation of each binary's orbit, spatial orientation, and interaction timescale. Similarly, one can probe the tides in less-detailed observations of disturbed galaxies in order to estimate some of the physical parameters for larger samples of interacting galaxy pairs. These parameters are useful inputs to the more universal problems of (1) the galaxy merger rate, (2) the strength and duration of the driving forces behind tidally stimulated phenomena (e.g., starbursts and maybe quasi steller objects), and (3) the identification of long-lived signatures of interaction/merger events.

Observational Tracers of Hot and Cold Gas in Isolated Galaxy Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brzycki, Bryan; Silvia, Devin

2018-01-01

We present results from an analysis comparing simulations of isolated spiral galaxies with recent observations of the circumgalactic medium (CGM). As the interface containing inflows and outflows between the interstellar and intergalactic media, the CGM plays an important role in the composition and evolution of galaxies. Using a set of isolated galaxy simulations over different initial conditions and star formation and feedback parameters, we investigate the evolution of CGM gas. Specifically, in light of recent observational studies, we compute the radial column density profiles and covering fractions of various observable ion species (H I, C IV, O VI, Mg II, Si III) for each simulated galaxy. Taking uniformly random sightlines through the CGM of each simulated galaxy, we find the abundance of gas absorbers and analyze their contribution to the overall column density along each sightline. By identifying the prevalence of high column density absorbers, we seek to characterize the distribution and evolution of observable ion species in the CGM. We also highlight a subset of our isolated galaxy simulations that produce and maintain a stable precipitating CGM that fuels high rates of sustained star formation. This project was supported in part by the NSF REU grant AST-1358980 and by the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association.

The Influence of Plasma Effects of Pair Beams on the Intergalactic Cascade Emission of Blazars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menzler, Ulf; Schlickeiser, Reinhard

2014-03-01

The attenuation of TeV γ-rays from distant blazars by the extragalactic background light (EBL) produces relativistic electron-positron pair beams. It has been shown by Broderick et. al. (2012) and Schlickeiser et. al (2012) that a pair beam traversing the intergalactic medium is unstable to linear two-stream instabilities of both electrostatic and electromagnetic nature. While for strong blazars all free pair energy is dissipated in heating the intergalactic medium and a potential electromagnetic cascade via inverse-Compton scattering with the cosmic microwave background is suppressed, we investigate the case of weak blazars where the back reaction of generated electrostatic turbulence leads to a plateauing of the electron energy spectrum. In the ultra-relativistic Thomson limit we analytically calculate the inverse-Compton spectral energy distribution for both an unplateaued and a plateaued beam scenario, showing a peak reduction factor of Rpeak ≈ 0.345. This is consistent with the FERMI non-measurements of a GeV excess in the spectrum of EBL attenuated TeV blazars. Claims on the lower bound of the intergalactic magnetic field strengths, made by several authors neglecting plasma effects, are thus put into question.

Ionization in the local interstellar and intergalactic media

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cheng, K.

1990-01-01

Detailed photoionization calculations for the local interstellar medium (LISM) and the intergalactic medium (IGM) are presented. Constraints in the LISM are imposed by H I column density derived from IUE and Copernicus data toward nearby B stars and hot white dwarfs. The EUV radiation field is modeled including contributions from discrete stellar sources and from a thermal bremsstrahlung-radiative recombination spectrum emitted from the surrounding 10(exp 6) K coronal substrate. Lower limits to the fractional ionization of hydrogen and helium of 0.17 and 0.30 respectively are established. The derived limits have important implications for the interpretation of the H I andmore » He I backscattering results. The high He ionization fraction results primarily from very strong line emission below 500 A originating in the surrounding coronal substrate while the H ionization is dominated by the EUV radiation from the discrete stellar sources. The dual effects of thermal conduction and the EUV spectrum of the 10(exp 6) K plasma on ionization in the cloud skin are explored. The EUV radiation field and Auger ionization have insignificant effects on the resulting ionic column densities of Si IV, C IV, N V and O VI through the cloud skin. Calculations show that the abundances of these species are dominated by collisional ionization in the thermal conduction front. Because of a low charge exchange rate with hydrogen, the ionic column density ratios of N(C III)/N(C II) and N(N II)/N(N I) are dominated by the EUV radiation field in the local interstellar medium. These ratios should be important diagnostics for the EUV radiation field and serve as surrogate indicators of the interstellar He and H ionization fraction respectively. The same photoionization model is applied to the intergalactic medium.« less

CIFOG: Cosmological Ionization Fields frOm Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hutter, Anne

2018-03-01

CIFOG is a versatile MPI-parallelised semi-numerical tool to perform simulations of the Epoch of Reionization. From a set of evolving cosmological gas density and ionizing emissivity fields, it computes the time and spatially dependent ionization of neutral hydrogen (HI), neutral (HeI) and singly ionized helium (HeII) in the intergalactic medium (IGM). The code accounts for HII, HeII, HeIII recombinations, and provides different descriptions for the photoionization rate that are used to calculate the residual HI fraction in ionized regions. This tool has been designed to be coupled to semi-analytic galaxy formation models or hydrodynamical simulations. The modular fashion of the code allows the user to easily introduce new descriptions for recombinations and the photoionization rate.

Constraints on dark matter from intergalactic radiation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Overduin, J. M.; Wesson, P. S.

1992-01-01

Several of the dark matter candidates that have been proposed are believed to be unstable to decay, which would contribute photons to the radiation field between galaxies. The main candidates of this type are light neutrinos and axions, primordial mini-black holes, and a nonzero 'vacuum' energy. All of these can be constrained in nature by observational data on the extragalactic background light and the microwave background radiation. Black holes and the vacuum can be ruled out as significant contributors to the 'missing mass'. Light axions are also unlikely candidates; however, those with extremely small rest energies (the so-called 'invisible' axions) remain feasible. Light neutrinos, like those proposed by Sciama, are marginally viable. In general, we believe that the intergalactic radiation field is an important way of constraining all types of dark matter.

Mapping the Supernova-Rich Fireworks Galaxy NGC 6946

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patton, Locke; Levesque, Emily

2018-01-01

Supernovae (SNe) are the spectacularly violent deaths of evolved young massive stars, which expel a shock wave into the intergalactic medium that in turn can spark star formation and disperse heavy elements into their host galaxy. While a SN event can be classified by its spectral signature, determining the nature of a SN progenitor depends upon chance photometry taken prior to the event. By turning to the study of SN host environments and their surrounding interstellar medium within the unique and rare population of galaxies that have hosted three or more SN events within the last century, we are granted the opportunity to study the locations and environmental properties of stellar populations prone to supernova progenitor production. Using moderate-resolution optical slit spectra taken with the Apache Point Observatory 3.5m DIS spectrograph, our goal is to map metallicity, ionization parameter, and star formation rates using emission line diagnostic ratios across each SN-rich galaxy. Dubbed the “Fireworks Galaxy” at a distance of 5.6 ± 1.5 Mpc, NGC 6946 is of particular interest as it has uniquely produced ten core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) and several other massive star transients within the last century. We present spatially-resolved metallicity and star formation rate (SFR) maps of NGC 6946, tracing fifty-five slit orientations which span the face of the galaxy and cover all CCSN host sites. Future work will include both stellar population synthesis modelling to determine stellar populations, ages, and SFR histories in NGC 6946 and a further expansion of this analysis to the other SN-rich host galaxies in our sample.

Reionization in a cold dark matter universe: The feedback of galaxy formation on the intergalactic medium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shapiro, Paul R.; Giroux, Mark L.; Babul, Arif

1994-01-01

We study the coupled evolution of the intergalactic medium (IGM) and the emerging structure in the universe in the context of the cold dark matter (CDM) model, with a special focus on the consequences of imposing reionization and the Gunn-Peterson constraint as a boundary condition on the model. We have calculated the time-varying density of the IGM by coupling our detailed, numerical calculations of the thermal and ionization balance and radiative transfer in a uniform, spatially averaged IGM of H and He, including the mean opacity of an evolving distribution of gas clumps which correspond to quasar absorption line clouds, to the linearized equations for the growth of density fluctuations in both the gaseous and dark matter components in a CDM universe. We use the linear growth equations to identify the fraction of the gas which must have collapsed out at each epoch, an approach similar in spirit to the so-called Press-Schechter formalism. We identify the IGM density with the uncollapsed baryon fraction. The collapsed fraction is postulated to be a source of energy injection into the IGM, by radiation or bulk hydrodynamical heating (e.g., via shocks) or both, at a rate which is marginally enough to satisfy the Gunn-Peterson constraint at z less than 5. Our results include the following: (1) We find that the IGM in a CDM model must have contained a substantial fraction of the total baryon density of the universe both during and after its reionization epoch. (2) As a result, our previous conclusion that the observed Quasi-Stellar Objects (QSOs) at high redshift are not sufficient to ionize the IGM enough to satisfy the Gunn-Peterson constraint is confirmed. (3) We predict a detectable He II Gunn-Peterson effect at 304(1 + z) A in the spectra of quasars at a range of redshift z greater than or approx. 3, depending on the nature of the sources of IGM reionization. (4) We find, moreover, that a CDM model with high bias parameter b (i.e., b greater than or approx. 2

MASSIV: Mass Assembly Survey with SINFONI in VVDS. III. Evidence for positive metallicity gradients in z ~ 1.2 star-forming galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Queyrel, J.; Contini, T.; Kissler-Patig, M.; Epinat, B.; Amram, P.; Garilli, B.; Le Fèvre, O.; Moultaka, J.; Paioro, L.; Tasca, L.; Tresse, L.; Vergani, D.; López-Sanjuan, C.; Perez-Montero, E.

2012-03-01

Aims: The estimate of radial abundance gradients in high-redshift galaxies allows to constrain their star formation history and their interplay with the surrounding intergalactic medium. Methods: We present VLT/SINFONI integral-field spectroscopy of a first sample of 50 galaxies at z ~ 1.2 in the MASSIV survey. Using the N2 ratio between the [N ii]6584 and Hα rest-frame optical emission lines as a proxy for oxygen abundance in the interstellar medium, we measured the metallicity of the sample galaxies. We developed a tool to extract spectra in annular regions, leading to a spatially resolved estimate of the oxygen abundance in each galaxy. We were able to derive a metallicity gradient for 26 galaxies in our sample and discovered a significant fraction of galaxies with a "positive" gradient. Using a simple chemical evolution model, we derived infall rates of pristine gas onto the disks. Results: Seven galaxies display a positive gradient at a high confidence level. Four out of these are interacting, and one is a chain galaxy. We suggest that interactions might be responsible for shallowing and even inverting the abundance gradient. We also identify two interesting correlations in our sample: a) galaxies with higher gas velocity dispersion have shallower/positive gradients; and b) metal-poor galaxies tend to show a positive gradient, whereas metal-rich ones tend to show a negative one. This last observation can be explained by the infall of metal-poor gas into the center of the disks. We address the question of the origin of this infall under the influence of gas flows triggered by interactions and/or cold gas accretion. All the data published in this paper are publicly available at the time of publication following this link: http://cosmosdb.lambrate.inaf.it/VVDS-SINFONI. This work is based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very

VLA neutral hydrogen imaging of compact groups of galaxies. II - HCG 31, 44, and 79

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Williams, B.A.; Mcmahon, P.M.; Van gorkom, J.H.

1991-06-01

Neutral hydrogen images of three compact groups of galaxies are presented: HCG 31, 44, and 79. The images were obtained with the very large array (VLA), an on-line Hanning smoothing was applied to the data, and the H I spectral channel was isolated. The images were made on the Pipeline, and were produced by means of a method described by Gorkon and Ekers (1988). The images of HCG 44 are compared with earlier Arecibo observations. The H I emission in HCG 44 is discovered within the galaxies, whereas the emission in 31 and 79 can be found throughout the groupmore » in clouds that are larger than the galaxies. Evidence of a relationship between the compact groups is found in the H I data, and the groups are considered to be merging into a single object. Some of the groups are theorized to be young amorphous galaxies where the H I is still bound to individual galaxies, and which have just begun to condense from the intergalactic medium. The kinematics of the gas are shown to vary, and a common gaseous envelope contains the dwarf galaxies. 42 refs.« less

The Effects of Galaxy Interactions on Star Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beverage, Aliza; Weiner, Aaron; Ramos Padilla, Andres; Ashby, Matthew; Smith, Howard A.

2018-01-01

Galaxy interactions are key events in galaxy evolution, and are widely thought to trigger significant increases in star formation. However, the mechanisms and timescales for these increases are still not well understood. In order to probe the effects of mergers, we undertook an investigation based on the Spitzer Interacting Galaxies Survey (SIGS), a sample of 102 nearby galaxies in 48 systems ranging from weakly interacting to near coalescence. Our study is unique in that we use both broadband photometry and a large sample of objects chosen to be statistically meaningful. Our data come from 32 broad bands ranging from the UV to far-IR, and we model spectral energy distributions (SEDs) using the Code for Investigating Galaxy Emission (CIGALE) to estimate physical characteristics for each galaxy. We find marginal statistical correlations between galaxy interaction strength and dust luminosity and the distribution of dust mass as a function of heating intensity. The specific star formation rates, however, do not show any enhancement across the interaction stages. This result challenges conventional wisdom that mergers induce star formation throughout galaxy interaction.The SAO REU program is funded in part by the National Science Foundation REU and Department of Defense ASSURE programs under NSF Grant no. 1262851, and by the Smithsonian Institution.

Interactions of galaxies outside clusters and massive groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yadav, Jaswant K.; Chen, Xuelei

2018-06-01

We investigate the dependence of physical properties of galaxies on small- and large-scale density environment. The galaxy population consists of mainly passively evolving galaxies in comparatively low-density regions of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We adopt (i) local density, ρ _{20}, derived using adaptive smoothing kernel, (ii) projected distance, r_p, to the nearest neighbor galaxy and (iii) the morphology of the nearest neighbor galaxy as various definitions of environment parameters of every galaxy in our sample. In order to detect long-range interaction effects, we group galaxy interactions into four cases depending on morphology of the target and neighbor galaxies. This study builds upon an earlier study by Park and Choi (2009) by including improved definitions of target and neighbor galaxies, thus enabling us to better understand the effect of "the nearest neighbor" interaction on the galaxy. We report that the impact of interaction on galaxy properties is detectable at least up to the pair separation corresponding to the virial radius of (the neighbor) galaxies. This turns out to be mostly between 210 and 360 h^{-1}kpc for galaxies included in our study. We report that early type fraction for isolated galaxies with r_p > r_{vir,nei} is almost ignorant of the background density and has a very weak density dependence for closed pairs. Star formation activity of a galaxy is found to be crucially dependent on neighbor galaxy morphology. We find star formation activity parameters and structure parameters of galaxies to be independent of the large-scale background density. We also exhibit that changing the absolute magnitude of the neighbor galaxies does not affect significantly the star formation activity of those target galaxies whose morphology and luminosities are fixed.

Bar-spheroid interaction in galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hernquist, Lars; Weinberg, Martin D.

1992-01-01

N-body simulation and linear analysis is employed to investigate the secular evolution of barred galaxies, with emphasis on the interaction between bars and spheroidal components of galaxies. This interaction is argued to drive secular transfer of angular momentum from bars to spheroids, primarily through resonant coupling. A moderately strong bar, having mass within corotation about 0.3 times the enclosed spheroid mass, is predicted to shed all its angular momentum typically in less than about 10 exp 9 yr. Even shorter depletion time scales are found for relatively more massive bars. It is suggested either that spheroids around barred galaxies are structured so as to inhibit strong coupling with bars, or that bars can form by unknown processes long after disks are established. The present models reinforce the notion that bars can drive secular evolution in galaxies.

Galaxy interactions and the stimulation of nuclear activity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heckman, Timothy M.

1990-01-01

The author discusses the idea that interactions between galaxies can lead to enhanced galactic activity. He discusses whether, apart from the observational evidence, there is a strong theoretical or heuristic motivation for investigating galaxy interactions as stimulators of nuclear activity in galaxies. Galactic interactions as mechanisms for triggering nuclear starbursts are covered.

Ionized Gas in the Halos of Edge-on Starburst Galaxies: Evidence for Supernova-driven Superwinds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lehnert, Matthew D.; Heckman, Timothy M.

1996-05-01

relative compactness of the Hα emission. 2. Ionization properties.-Line ratios become more "shocklike" (high ratios of [N II] λ6583/Hα, [S II] λλ6716, 6731/Hα, and [O I] λ6300/Hα) at more extreme IR properties, the most "shocklike" line ratios occur far out along the minor axis, "shocklike" line ratios corresponds to broad emission lines, and the most extreme line ratios correspond to the most extreme IR properties, especially for the emission-line gas farthest out along the minor axis. 3. Dynamical properties.-Lines are broader along the minor axis than along the major axis, line widths correlate with the "IR activity," line widths correlate with line ratios, line widths do not correlate with rotation speed, minor axis shear (a measure of the systematic velocity change along the minor axis) correlates with "IR activity," minor axis shear correlates with axial ratio and implies that a face-on galaxy would have an outflow/inflow speed of 170_-80_^+150^ km s^-1^, and the starbursts show statistically blueward line profile asymmetries. 4. Physical properties.-Pressures in the nuclei of these galaxies are 3 orders of magnitude higher than the ambient pressure in the interstellar medium of our galaxy, and the pressure falls systematically with radius. While none of these results are in themselves proof of the superwind model, we believe that when the results are taken as a whole, the superwind hypothesis is very successful in explaining what we have observed. In addition, these results have implications for galaxy evolution and the nature of the intergalactic medium. Those galaxies with the best evidence for driving superwinds are those with large IR luminosities (L_IR_ ~> 10^44^ ergs s^-1^), large IR excesses (L_IR_/L_OPT_ ~> 2), and warm far-IR colors (S_60 microns_/S_100 microns_ ~> 0.5). Integrating over the local far-IR luminosity function for galaxies meeting the above criteria, multiplying by the age of the universe, and then dividing by the local space density

Enrichment and heating of the intracluster medium by ejection from galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Metzler, Chris; Evrard, August

1993-01-01

Results of N-body + hydrodynamic simulations designed to model the formation and evolution of clusters of galaxies and intracluster gas are presented. Clusters of galaxies are the largest bound, relaxed objects in the universe. They are strong x-ray emitters; this radiation originates through thermal bremsstrahlung from a diffuse plasma filling the space between cluster galaxies, the intracluster medium or ICM. From observations, one can infer that the mass of the ICM is comparable to or greater than the mass of all the galaxies in the cluster, and that the ratio of mass in hot gas to mass in galaxies, M(sub ICM)/M(sub STARS), increases with the richness of the cluster. Spectroscopic studies of cluster x-ray emission show heavy element emission lines. While M(sub ICM)/M(sub STARS) is greater than or equal to 1 implies that most of the ICM is primordial in nature, the discovery of heavy elements indicates that some of the gas must have been processed through galaxies. Galaxy evolution thus directly impacts cluster evolution.

Galactic Winds and the Role Played by Massive Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heckman, Timothy M.; Thompson, Todd A.

Galactic winds from star-forming galaxies play at key role in the evolution of galaxies and the intergalactic medium. They transport metals out of galaxies, chemically enriching the intergalactic medium and modifying the chemical evolution of galaxies. They affect the surrounding interstellar and circumgalactic media, thereby influencing the growth of galaxies though gas accretion and star formation. In this contribution we first summarize the physical mechanisms by which the momentum and energy output from a population of massive stars and associated supernovae can drive galactic winds. We use the prototypical example of M 82 to illustrate the multiphase nature of galactic winds. We then describe how the basic properties of galactic winds are derived from the data, and summarize how the properties of galactic winds vary systematically with the properties of the galaxies that launch them. We conclude with a brief discussion of the broad implications of galactic winds.

The extent of chemically enriched gas around star-forming dwarf galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Sean

2018-01-01

Supernovae driven winds are often invoked to remove chemically enriched gas from galaxies to match the low metallicities of dwarf galaxies. In such shallow potential wells, outflows may produce massive amounts of enriched halo gas (circum-galactic medium or CGM) and pollute the intergalactic medium (IGM). I will present a survey of the CGM and IGM around 18 star-forming field dwarf galaxies with stellar masses of log M*/M⊙ ≈ 8 ‑ 9 at z ≈ 0.2. Eight of these have CGM probed by quasar absorption spectra at projected distances, d, less than the host virial radius, Rh. Ten are probed at d/Rh = 1 ‑ 3 to study the surrounding IGM. The absorption measurements include neutral hydrogen (H I), the dominant silicon ions for diffuse cool gas (T ∼ 104 K; Si II, Si III, and Si IV), more highly ionized carbon (C IV), and highly ionized oxygen (O VI). The metal absorption from the CGM of the dwarf galaxies is less common and ≈ 4× weaker compared to massive star-forming galaxies though O VI absorption is still common. None of the dwarfs probed at d/Rh = 1 ‑ 3 have definitive metal-line detections. Combining the available silicon ions, we estimate that the cool CGM accounts for only 2 ‑ 6% of the expected silicon budget. CGM absorption from O VI can account for ≈ 8% of the expected oxygen budget. As O VI traces an ion with expected equilibrium ion fractions of 0.2, this highly ionized phase of the CGM may represent a significant metal reservoir even for dwarf galaxies not expected to maintain gravitationally shock heated hot halos.

The Formation and Evolution of Star Clusters in Interacting Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maji, Moupiya; Zhu, Qirong; Li, Yuexing; Charlton, Jane; Hernquist, Lars; Knebe, Alexander

2017-08-01

Observations of globular clusters show that they have universal lognormal mass functions with a characteristic peak at ˜ 2× {10}5 {M}⊙ , but the origin of this peaked distribution is highly debated. Here we investigate the formation and evolution of star clusters (SCs) in interacting galaxies using high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations performed with two different codes in order to mitigate numerical artifacts. We find that massive SCs in the range of ˜ {10}5.5{--}{10}7.5 {M}⊙ form preferentially in the highly shocked regions produced by galaxy interactions. The nascent cluster-forming clouds have high gas pressures in the range of P/k˜ {10}8{--}{10}12 {{K}} {{cm}}-3, which is ˜ {10}4{--}{10}8 times higher than the typical pressure of the interstellar medium but consistent with recent observations of a pre-super-SC cloud in the Antennae Galaxies. Furthermore, these massive SCs have quasi-lognormal initial mass functions with a peak around ˜ {10}6 {M}⊙ . The number of clusters declines with time due to destructive processes, but the shape and the peak of the mass functions do not change significantly during the course of galaxy collisions. Our results suggest that gas-rich galaxy mergers may provide a favorable environment for the formation of massive SCs such as globular clusters, and that the lognormal mass functions and the unique peak may originate from the extreme high-pressure conditions of the birth clouds and may survive the dynamical evolution.

The Influence of Galactic Outflows on the Formation of Nearby Dwarf Galaxies.

PubMed

Scannapieco; Ferrara; Broadhurst

2000-06-10

We show that the gas in growing density perturbations is vulnerable to the influence of winds outflowing from nearby collapsed galaxies that have already formed stars. This suggests that the formation of nearby galaxies with masses less, similar10(9) M( middle dot in circle) is likely to be suppressed, irrespective of the details of galaxy formation. An impinging wind may shock-heat the gas of a nearby perturbation to above the virial temperature, thereby mechanically evaporating the gas, or the baryons may be stripped from the perturbation entirely if they are accelerated to above the escape velocity. We show that baryonic stripping is the most effective of these two processes, because shock-heated clouds that are too large to be stripped are able to radiatively cool within a sound crossing time, limiting evaporation. The intergalactic medium temperatures and star formation rates required for outflows to have a significant influence on the formation of low-mass galaxies are consistent with current observations, but may soon be examined directly via associated distortions in the cosmic microwave background and with near-infrared observations from the Next Generation Space Telescope, which may detect the supernovae from early-forming stars.

An Empirical Determination of the Intergalactic Background Light Using Near-Infrared Deep Galaxy Survey Data Out to 5 Micrometers and the Gamma-Ray Opacity of the Universe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scully, Sean T.; Malkan, Matthew A.; Stecker, Floyd W.

2014-01-01

We extend our previous model-independent determination of the intergalactic background light, based purely on galaxy survey data, out to a wavelength of 5 micrometers. Our approach enables us to constrain the range of photon densities, based on the uncertainties from observationally determined luminosity densities and colors. We further determine a 68% confidence upper and lower limit on the opacity of the universe to gamma-rays up to energies of 1.6/(1 + z) terraelectron volts. A comparison of our lower limit redshift-dependent opacity curves to the opacity limits derived from the results of both ground-based air Cerenkov telescope and Fermi-LAT observations of PKS 1424+240 allows us to place a new upper limit on the redshift of this source, independent of IBL modeling.

Galaxy Interactions, Tidal Debris, and the Origin of Intracluster Light in the Coma Cluster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gregg, Michael

1999-07-01

We propose to obtain deep WFPC2 and parallel STIS images of low surface brightness tidal debris that we have recently discovered in the Coma cluster; the material is being stripped from its parent galaxy and added to the general cluster background. These images will enable direct study of the brightest blue and red supergiants, globular clusters, and star forming regions which may be present, or will place strong limits on the numbers of such objects and any recent star formation. We also propose similar observations of the parent spiral, NGC4911, in the core of Coma; it is losing its ISM to the hot cluster gas and as well as the low surface brightness tidal debris. By imaging this galaxy, we will get a high resolution look at the interaction between the galaxy and interstellar medium, as well as any ram-pressure induced star formation. The tidal features in Coma appear to be adding material to the background light and cD galaxy envelopes at a significant rate; determining the nature of the added stellar population and the interactions which produce it are critical to understanding the formation and evolution of cD galaxies and clusters.

An Investigation of the Cold Interstellar Medium of the Outer Galaxy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heyer, Mark H.

1997-01-01

The primary objective of this proposal was to determine the relationship between the molecular gas and dust components of the interstellar medium of the Outer Galaxy. It made use of the High Resolution IRAS Galaxy Atlas and the FCRAO CO Survey of the Outer Galaxy. These HIRES images greatly augment the spatial dynamic range of the IRAS Survey data and the ability to discriminate multiple point sources within a compact region. Additionally, the HIRES far infrared images allow for more direct comparisons with molecular line data observed at 45 sec resolution. From funding of this proposal, we have completed two papers for publication in a refereed journal.

Studying Galaxy Formation with the Hubble, Spitzer and James Webb Space Telescopes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gardner, Jonathan P.

2007-01-01

The deepest optical to infrared observations of the universe include the Hubble Deep Fields, the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey and the recent Hubble Ultra-Deep Field. Galaxies are seen in these surveys at redshifts 2x3, less than 1 Gyr after the Big Bang, at the end of a period when light from the galaxies has reionized Hydrogen in the inter-galactic medium. These observations, combined with theoretical understanding, indicate that the first stars and galaxies formed at z>lO, beyond the reach of the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. To observe the first galaxies, NASA is planning the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a large (6.5m), cold (<50K), infrared-optimized observatory to be launched early in the next decade into orbit around the second Earth- Sun Lagrange point. JWST will have four instruments: The Near-Infrared Camera, the Near-Infrared multi-object Spectrograph, and the Tunable Filter Imager will cover the wavelength range 0.6 to 5 microns, while the Mid-Infrared Instrument will do both imaging and spectroscopy from 5 to 28.5 microns. In addition to JWST's ability to study the formation and evolution of galaxies, I will also briefly review its expected contributions to studies of the formation of stars and planetary systems.

Studying Galaxy Formation with the Hubble, Spitzer and James Webb Space Telescopes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gardner, Jonathan F.; Barbier, L. M.; Barthelmy, S. D.; Cummings, J. R.; Fenimore, E. E.; Gehrels, N.; Hullinger, D. D.; Markwardt, C. B.; Palmer, D. M.; Parsons, A. M.;

Studying Galaxy Formation with the Hubble, Spitzer and James Webb Space Telescopes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gardner, Jonathan P.

2007-01-01

The deepest optical to infrared observations of the universe include the Hubble Deep Fields, the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey and the recent Hubble Ultra-Deep Field. Galaxies are seen in these surveys at redshifts z>6, less than 1 Gyr after the Big Bang, at the end of a period when light from the galaxies has reionized Hydrogen in the inter-galactic medium. These observations, combined with theoretical understanding, indicate that the first stars and galaxies formed at z>10, beyond the reach of the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. To observe the first galaxies, NASA is planning the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a large (6.5m), cold (<50K), infrared-optimized observatory to be launched early in the next decade into orbit around the second Earth- Sun Lagrange point. JWST will have four instruments: The Near-Infrared Camera, the Near-Infrared multi-object Spectrograph, and the Tunable Filter Imager will cover the wavelength range 0.6 to 5 microns, while the Mid-Infrared Instrument will do both imaging and spectroscopy from 5 to 28.5 microns. In addition to JWST's ability to study the formation and evolution of galaxies, I will also briefly review its expected contributions to studies of the formation of stars and planetary systems.

The Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium Explorer (WHIMex)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lillie, Charles F.; Cash, W. C.; Science, WHIMex; Instrument Teams

2011-09-01

WHIMex is a low-cost, highly capable, single instrument X-ray observatory proposed as a NASA Explorer 2011 mission. WHIMex will use high resolution X-ray spectroscopy (R ≥ 4000) to probe the hot, tenuous gas that populates the great stretches between the galaxies - the place where most of the baryons in the Universe reside. The bulk of this gas is so hot that it can only be studied in the soft X-ray region where the atomic diagnostics for highly ionized species reside. And this gas is so tenuous that it can only be observed in absorption. To detect the absorption lines of O VII and O VIII along the line of sight to distant AGN requires an order of magnitude improvement in both spectral resolution and collecting area over the current best X-ray spectrographs on Chandra and XMM-Newton. WHIMex achieves this goal in a compact and affordable package through the application of technologies that were developed over the last decade for the International X-ray Observatory. WHIMex uses ultra-thin, light, densely nested parabolic-hyperbolic mirror pairs to create a telescope with a high collecting area and <15 arcsecond resolution. The X-ray s are dispersed in wavelength by an array of radial gratings in the extreme off-plane mount. Spectral resolving power of 4000 (λ/δλ) is expected in the 0.3 to 0.8 keV band to bring weak absorption lines out of the noise. A collecting area up to 360 cm2 will enable spectral observations of high red shift AGNs. If selected WHIMex could be launched in mid- 2017 on a Taurus or Athena II from Vandenberg AFB into a 540 km, 70° inclination low earth orbit. In flight, it would open a new field of exploration with high resolution observations of AGN outflows, the IGM, Interstellar Medium, mass transfer binaries, stellar coronae and much more.

Constraining the Intergalactic and Circumgalactic Media with Lyman-Alpha Absorption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sorini, Daniele; Onorbe, Jose; Hennawi, Joseph F.; Lukic, Zarija

2018-01-01

Lyman-alpha (Ly-a) absorption features detected in quasar spectra in the redshift range 0intergalactic and circumgalactic media (IGM/CGM) and, consequently, to constrain models of galaxy formation and cosmology. In the first part of my thesis, I overcome numerical challenges posed by cosmological hydrodynamic simulations by developing a novel semi-analytic technique to predict various statistics of Ly-a absorption in the IGM with large N-body cosmological simulations. The technique developed is more accurate than previous attempts in the literature, and can be applied to Gpc-scale N-body simulations, allowing an accurate investigation of the Ly-a absorption on unprecedentedly large scales. In the second part of my thesis, I compare predictions of state-of-the-art hydrodynamic cosmological simulations with observations of the mean Ly-a absorption around foreground quasars, damped Ly-a absorbers, and Lyman-break galaxies, at different transverse distances (~20kpc-20Mpc) from background quasars. Far from galaxies >2Mpc, the simulations asymptotically match the observations, because the ΛCDM model successfully describes the ambient IGM. This represents a critical advantage of studying the mean absorption profile. However, significant differences between the simulations, and between simulations and observations are present on scales 20kpc-2Mpc, illustrating the challenges of accurately modeling and resolving galaxy formation physics. It is noteworthy that these differences are observed as far out as ~2Mpc, indicating that the `sphere-of-influence' of galaxies could extend to approximately ~20 times the halo virial radius (~100kpc). Current observations are very precise on these scales and can thus strongly discriminate between different galaxy formation models. I demonstrate that the Ly-a absorption profile is primarily sensitive to the underlying temperature-density relationship of diffuse gas around galaxies, and argue that it

A Study of Interstellar Medium Components of the Ohio State University Bright Spiral Galaxy Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butner, Melissa; Deustua, S. E.; Conti, A.; Smtih, J.

2011-01-01

Multi-wavelength data can be used to provide information on the interstellar medium of galaxies, as well as on their stellar populations. We use the Ohio State University Bright Spiral Galaxy Survey (OSBSGS) to investigate the distribution and properties of the interstellar medium in a set of nearby galaxies. The OSBSGS consists of B, V, R, J, H and K band images for a over 200 nearby spiral galaxies. These data allow us to probe the dust temperatures and distribution using color maps. When combined with a pixel based analysis, it may be possible to tease out, perhaps better constraining, the heating mechanism for the ISM, as well as constrain dust models. In this paper we will discuss our progress in understanding, in particular, the properties of dust in nearby galaxies. Melissa Butner was a participant in the STScI Summer Student Program supported by the STScI Director's Discretionary Research Fund. MB also acknowledges support and computer cluster access via NSF grant 07-22890.

Gas flows in S-E binary systems of galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sotnikova, N. YA.

1990-01-01

Tidal interaction between the galaxies in binary systems leads to important consequences. Some peculiarities in galactic morphology as well as the transfer of matter from one galaxy to another may be due to this factor. In particular, gas flows in intergalactic space may be formed. Such flows enriching one component with gas from the other may play a substantial role in the evolution of mixed (S-E) pairs. One can mention several facts corroborating the possibility of the gas transfer from the spiral to the elliptical galaxy. High HI content (10(exp 7) to 10(exp 9) solar mass) is detected in nearly 40 E galaxies (Bottinelli and Gougenheim, 1979; Knapp et al., 1985). Such galaxies are often members of pairs or of multiple systems including an S galaxy, which may be the source of gas (Smirnov and Komberg, 1980). Moreover, the gas kinematics and its distribution also indicate an external origin for this gas (Knapp et al., 1985). In many cases there is an outer gaseous disk. The directions of the disk and of stellar rotation don't always coincide (van Gorkom et al., 1985; Varnas et al., 1987). The galaxy colors in S-E pairs are correlated (the Holmberg effect): bluer ellipticals have spiral components that are usually bluer (Demin et al., 1984). The fraction of E galaxies with emission lines (N sub em) in S-E pairs showing traces of tidal interaction is twice as large (N sub em approx. equals 0.24) as in pairs without interaction (N sub em approx. equals 0.12) (Sotnikova, 1988b). Since the presence of emission lines in a galaxy spectrum strongly depends on gas content, this fact also leads to the conclusion that ellipticals in interacting S-E pairs are enriched with gas. These facts may be considered as a serious indication of the existence of gas transfer. Hence, investigation of this process is of interest.

Starlight morphology of the interacting galaxy NGC 5195

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, J.; Gehrz, R. D.; Grasdalen, G. L.; Hackwell, John A.; Dietz, R. D.; Friedman, Scott D.

1990-10-01

We present near-infrared, red, and optical observations of NGC 5195, the interacting companion of NGC 5194 (M51). Three intrinsic components are suggested by the near-infrared data: a bright nuclear maximum, a low-contrast bar centered symmetrically on the nucleus, and a nearly face-on exponential disk. This organized near-infrared morphology contrasts strongly with the irregular appearance of optical images. Neither dust nor hot stars contribute much to the near-infrared emission, leaving cool stars probably of an evolved population as the main near-infrared sources. Optical (V) and red (R, I) images confirm the near-infrared morphology and imply that obscuration by an irregular distribution of dust causes the great difference between optical and near-infrared morphologies. Dust within a foreground spiral arm of M51 is an important source of obscuration. Dust internal to NGC 5195 gives an observed quantity of reradiation and perhaps contributes significant obscuration within 10" of the galactic nucleus. The nucleus itself lies at or near a local minimum in color produced by small obscuration or possibly hot emission from the galaxy's nuclear emission-line region or X-ray medium. When corrected for all spatial components of extinction, the body of NGC 5195 becomes much bluer and has a mean B - H color common to normal disk galaxies. Observations lead consistently to SB, but no further, as the best description of the NGC 5195 morphology. Images reveal no evidence of spiral arms which alone would imply a lenticular subtype. Yet the bulge-to-disk ratio of NGC 5195, evaluated from near-infrared observations, is far smaller than values inferred for noninteracting lenticular galaxies. Motivated by these difficulties in conventional classification, we proceed to discuss the possibility that certain attributes of NGC 5195, including its bar, are transient manifestations of the interaction with M51. Presented measurements support the galaxy mass ratio and type of NGC 5195

THE SPECTRAL EVOLUTION OF THE FIRST GALAXIES. I. JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE DETECTION LIMITS AND COLOR CRITERIA FOR POPULATION III GALAXIES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zackrisson, Erik; Rydberg, Claes-Erik; Oestlin, Goeran

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is expected to revolutionize our understanding of the high-redshift universe, and may be able to test the prediction that the first, chemically pristine (Population III) stars are formed with very high characteristic masses. Since isolated Population III stars are likely to be beyond the reach of JWST, small Population III galaxies may offer the best prospects of directly probing the properties of metal-free stars. Here, we present Yggdrasil, a new spectral synthesis code geared toward the first galaxies. Using this model, we explore the JWST imaging detection limits for Population III galaxies and investigatemore » to what extent such objects may be identified based on their JWST colors. We predict that JWST should be able to detect Population III galaxies with stellar population masses as low as {approx}10{sup 5} M{sub sun} at z {approx} 10 in ultra deep exposures. Over limited redshift intervals, it may also be possible to use color criteria to select Population III galaxy candidates for follow-up spectroscopy. The colors of young Population III galaxies dominated by direct starlight can be used to probe the stellar initial mass function (IMF), but this requires almost complete leakage of ionizing photons into the intergalactic medium. The colors of objects dominated by nebular emission show no corresponding IMF sensitivity. We also note that a clean selection of Population III galaxies at z {approx} 7-8 can be achieved by adding two JWST/MIRI filters to the JWST/NIRCam filter sets usually discussed in the context of JWST ultra deep fields.« less

A statistical analysis of the Einstein normal galaxy sample. III - Radio and X-ray properties of elliptical and S0 galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fabbiano, G.; Klein, U.; Trinchieri, G.; Wielebinski, R.

1987-01-01

Radioastronomy, optical and X-ray data were used to probe the cause of high X-ray luminosities of 28 radio-quiet elliptical galaxies (RQE) and S0 galaxies previously scanned by the Einstein Observatory. Comparisons were made with similar data on double-lobed 3CR galaxies. Radio luminosities were highly correlated with the X-ray luminosities, agreeing with models of radio nuclear sources in early-type galaxies as accreting compact objects. Additionally, 3CR galaxies seemed to be large-scale versions of normal RQE. The significance of interstellar medium/intracluster medium interactions for high correlations between the core and total radio power from X-ray emitting galaxies is discussed.

The scattering of Lyα radiation in the intergalactic medium: numerical methods and solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Higgins, Jonathan; Meiksin, Avery

2012-11-01

Two methods are developed for solving the steady-state spherically symmetric radiative transfer equation for resonance line radiation emitted by a point source in the intergalactic medium, in the context of the Wouthuysen-Field mechanism for coupling the hyperfine structure spin temperature of hydrogen to the gas temperature. One method is based on solving the ray and moment equations using finite differences. The second uses a Monte Carlo approach incorporating methods that greatly improve the accuracy compared with previous approaches in this context. Several applications are presented serving as test problems for both a static medium and an expanding medium, including inhomogeneities in the density and velocity fields. Solutions are obtained in the coherent scattering limit and for Doppler RII redistribution with and without recoils. We find generally that the radiation intensity is linear in the cosine of the azimuthal angle with respect to radius to high accuracy over a broad frequency region across the line centre for both linear and perturbed velocity fields, yielding the Eddington factors fν ≃ 1/3 and gν ≃ 3/5. The radiation field produced by a point source divides into three spatial regimes for a uniformly expanding homogeneous medium. The regimes are governed by the fraction of the distance r from the source in terms of the distance r* required for a photon to redshift from line centre to the frequency needed to escape from the expanding gas. For a standard cosmology, before the Universe was reionized r* takes on the universal value independent of redshift of 1.1 Mpc, depending only on the ratio of the baryon to dark matter density. At r/r* < 1, the radiation field is accurately described in the diffusion approximation, with the scattering rate declining with the distance from the source as r-7/3, except at r/r* ≪ 1 where frequency redistribution nearly doubles the mean intensity around line centre. At r/r* > 1, the diffusion approximation breaks

Probing Circum Galactic Medium of Galaxies in Emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Anjali

Nearby late-type galaxies are missing a large fraction of their baryonic mass. Galaxies have also lost most of the metals that they produced. Cosmological simulations of galaxy formation suggest that a large fraction of the missing baryonic mass and metals should reside in the circum-galactic medium (CGM), in a warm-hot gas phase at temperatures between one million and 10 million K. Although theoretical models predict the existence of the warm-hot gas in the CGM, detecting and characterizing the diffuse CGM has been difficult. At the expected temperatures the baryons are in the form of highly ionized plasma,observable in soft X-rays. Using observations from Chandra, XMM-Newton and Suzaku, we found that there is a huge reservoir of ionized gas around the Milky Way, with a mass of over 2 billion solar masses and a radius of over 100 kpc. The baryonic mass fraction of this gas is consistent with the Universal value. Similar to the Milky Way, other spiral galaxies should also have massive, extended reservoirs of ionized hot gas in the CGM. Searches of such a warm-hot gas in CGMs of external galaxies, however, have given mixed results. There are three sets of observations which are in apparent conflict: (1) CGMs around nearby spiral galaxies are apparently not extended (this might be an observational bias which we will test with the proposed program); (2) CGMs around massive spirals are extended and massive, but given the large mass of these galaxies, about an order of magnitude higher than the Milky Way, the fraction of baryons in the CGM is still small, and the baryons are still missing; (3) the Milky Way CGM is extended and massive and may account for the missing baryons. Theoretical models suggest that CGM properties depend on galaxy properties such as the gravitational mass, stellar mass and specific star formation rate. So to understand the physics of galaxy formation and evolution and the role of the accretion and feedback mechanisms, we must probe the entire

An empirical determination of the intergalactic background light using near-infrared deep galaxy survey data out to 5 μm and the gamma-ray opacity of the universe

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Scully, Sean T.; Malkan, Matthew A.; Stecker, Floyd W., E-mail: Floyd.W.Stecker@nasa.gov

2014-04-01

We extend our previous model-independent determination of the intergalactic background light, based purely on galaxy survey data, out to a wavelength of 5 μm. Our approach enables us to constrain the range of photon densities, based on the uncertainties from observationally determined luminosity densities and colors. We further determine a 68% confidence upper and lower limit on the opacity of the universe to γ-rays up to energies of 1.6/(1 + z) TeV. A comparison of our lower limit redshift-dependent opacity curves to the opacity limits derived from the results of both ground-based air Cerenkov telescope and Fermi-LAT observations of PKSmore » 1424+240 allows us to place a new upper limit on the redshift of this source, independent of IBL modeling.« less

Studying Galaxy Formation with the Hubble, Spitzer and James Webb Space Telescopes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gardner, Jonathan P.

2009-01-01

The deepest optical to infrared observations of the universe include the Hubble Deep Fields, the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey and the recent Hubble Ultra-Deep Field. Galaxies are seen in these surveys at redshifts z greater than 6, less than 1 Gyr after the Big Bang, at the end of a period when light from the galaxies has reionized Hydrogen in the inter-galactic medium. These observations, combined with theoretical understanding, indicate that the first stars and galaxies formed at z greater than 10, beyond the reach of the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. To observe the first galaxies, NASA is planning the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a large (6.5m), cold (less than 50K), infrared-optimized observatory to be launched early in the next decade into orbit around the second Earth-Sun Lagrange point. JWST will have four instruments: The Near-Infrared Camera, the Near-Infrared multi-object Spectrograph, and the Tunable Filter Imager will cover the wavelength range 0.6 to 5 microns, while the Mid-Infrared Instrument will do both imaging and spectroscopy from 5 to 28.5 microns. In addition to JWST's ability to study the formation and evolution of galaxies, I will also briefly review its expected contributions to studies of the formation of stars and planetary systems, and discuss recent progress in constructing the observatory.

Galactic and Intergalactic Magnetic Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klein, U.; Fletcher, A.

This course-tested textbook conveys the fundamentals of magnetic fields and relativistic plasma in diffuse cosmic media, with a primary focus on phenomena that have been observed at different wavelengths. Theoretical concepts are addressed wherever necessary, with derivations presented in sufficient detail to be generally accessible. In the first few chapters the authors present an introduction to various astrophysical phenomena related to cosmic magnetism, with scales ranging from molecular clouds in star-forming regions and supernova remnants in the Milky Way, to clusters of galaxies. Later chapters address the role of magnetic fields in the evolution of the interstellar medium, galaxies and galaxy clusters. The book is intended for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students in astronomy and physics and will serve as an entry point for those starting their first research projects in the field.

Probing the Evolution of the Galaxy Interaction/Merger Rate Using Distant Collisional Ring Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavery, Russell J.; Remijan, Anthony J.

We present the initial results from our long-term program of identifying distant collisional ring galaxies (CRGS) in deep HST WFPC-2 images. The unique morphological characteristics of these galaxies make them easily identifiable out to a redshift of z = 1. To date, we have visually scanned 100 WFPC-2 fields and identified 14 excellent collisional ring galaxy (CRG) candidates. Based on estimated redshifts, these 14 galaxies are expected to lie in the redshift interval of 0.1 to 1. We have used this sample of CRGs to estimate the evolution of the galaxy interaction/merger rate with redshift. To account for the number of CRGs we have identified in these fields, the galaxy interaction/merger rate, parameterized as (1 + z)m, must increase steeply with redshift, with m = 5.7 +/- 1.5. We can rule out a non-evolving galaxy merger rate (m = 0) at greater than the 3σ level. We compare our results with other programs to determine the value of m using the evolution of galaxy pairs.

Smooth H I Low Column Density Outskirts in Nearby Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ianjamasimanana, R.; Walter, Fabian; de Blok, W. J. G.; Heald, George H.; Brinks, Elias

2018-06-01

The low column density gas at the outskirts of galaxies as traced by the 21 cm hydrogen line emission (H I) represents the interface between galaxies and the intergalactic medium, i.e., where galaxies are believed to get their supply of gas to fuel future episodes of star formation. Photoionization models predict a break in the radial profiles of H I at a column density of ∼5 × 1019 cm‑2 due to the lack of self-shielding against extragalactic ionizing photons. To investigate the prevalence of such breaks in galactic disks and to characterize what determines the potential edge of the H I disks, we study the azimuthally averaged H I column density profiles of 17 nearby galaxies from the H I Nearby Galaxy Survey and supplemented in two cases with published Hydrogen Accretion in LOcal GAlaxieS data. To detect potential faint H I emission that would otherwise be undetected using conventional moment map analysis, we line up individual profiles to the same reference velocity and average them azimuthally to derive stacked radial profiles. To do so, we use model velocity fields created from a simple extrapolation of the rotation curves to align the profiles in velocity at radii beyond the extent probed with the sensitivity of traditional integrated H I maps. With this method, we improve our sensitivity to outer-disk H I emission by up to an order of magnitude. Except for a few disturbed galaxies, none show evidence of a sudden change in the slope of the H I radial profiles: the alleged signature of ionization by the extragalactic background.

The Nonbarred Double-Ringed Galaxy, PGC 1000714

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seigar, Marc; Mutlu Pakdil, Burcin; Mangedarage, Mithila; Treuthardt, Patrick M.

2017-01-01

Hoag-type galaxies are rare peculiar systems which bear strong resemblance to Hoag's Object with an elliptical-like core, a detached outer ring, and no signs of a bar or stellar disk. They represent extreme cases and help us understand the formation of galaxies in general by providing clues on formation mechanisms. The nature of outer rings in Hoag-type galaxies is still debated and may be related either to slow secular evolution, such as dissolution of a barlike structure or to environmental processes, such as galaxy-galaxy interactions or gas infall. Due to a fairly superficial resemblance to Hoag's Object, PGC 1000714 is a good target for detailed study of the peculiar structure of this type. We present the first photometric study of PGC 1000714 that has not yet been described in the literature. Our aim is to evaluate its structure and properties as well as understand the origin of outer rings in such galaxies. Surface photometry of the central body is performed using near-UV, BVRI and JHK images. Based on the photometric data, the nearly round central body follows a de Vaucouleurs profile almost all the way to the center. The detailed photometry reveals a reddish inner ring-shaped structure that shares the same center as the central body. However, no sign of a bar or stellar disk is detected. The outer ring appears as a bump in the surface brightness profile with a peak brightness of 25.8 mag/arcsec^{2} in the B-band and shows no sharp outer boundary. By reconstructing the observed SED for the central body and the rings, we recover the stellar population properties of the galaxy components. Our work suggests different formation histories for the inner and outer rings. We rule out the secular evolution model as being a formation mechanism for the outer ring. The colors of the outer ring are consistent with a feature that may have experienced a burst of star formation due to a possible recent accretion event. In addition, our work supports that the central body

Paired and interacting galaxies: Conference summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Norman, Colin A.

1990-01-01

The author gives a summary of the conference proceedings. The conference began with the presentation of the basic data sets on pairs, groups, and interacting galaxies with the latter being further discussed with respect to both global properties and properties of the galactic nuclei. Then followed the theory, modelling and interpretation using analytic techniques, simulations and general modelling for spirals and ellipticals, starbursts and active galactic nuclei. Before the conference the author wrote down the three questions concerning pairs, groups and interacting galaxies that he hoped would be answered at the meeting: (1) How do they form, including the role of initial conditions, the importance of subclustering, the evolution of groups to compact groups, and the fate of compact groups; (2) How do they evolve, including issues such as relevant timescales, the role of halos and the problem of overmerging, the triggering and enhancement of star formation and activity in the galactic nuclei, and the relative importance of dwarf versus giant encounters; and (3) Are they important, including the frequency of pairs and interactions, whether merging and interactions are very important aspects of the life of a normal galaxy at formation, during its evolution, in forming bars, shells, rings, bulges, etc., and in the formation and evolution of active galaxies? Where possible he focuses on these three central issues in the summary.

Galaxy interactions in the Hickson Compact Group 88

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brosch, Noah

2015-12-01

I present observations of the Hickson Compact Group 88 (HCG88) obtained during the commissioning of a new 28-inch telescope at the Wise Observatory. This galaxy group was advertized to be non-interacting, or to be in a very early interaction stage, but this is not the case. The observations reported here were done using a `luminance' filter, essentially a very broad R filter, reaching a low surface brightness level of ≈26 mag arcsec-2. Additional observations were obtained in a narrow spectral band approximately centred on the rest-frame H α line from the group. Contrary to previous studies, my observations show that at least two of the major galaxies have had significant interactions in the past, although probably not between themselves. I report the discovery of a faint extended tail emerging from the brightest of the group galaxies, severe isophote twisting and possible outer shells around another galaxy, and map the H II regions in all the galaxies.

Active galactic nuclei and galaxy interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alonso, M. Sol; Lambas, Diego G.; Tissera, Patricia; Coldwell, Georgina

2007-03-01

We perform a statistical analysis of active galactic nucleus (AGN) host characteristics and nuclear activity for AGNs in pairs and without companions. Our study concerns a sample of AGNs derived from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 4 data by Kauffmann et al. and pair galaxies obtained from the same data set by Alonso et al. An eye-ball classification of images of 1607 close pairs (rp < 25 kpc h-1,ΔV < 350 km s-1) according to the evidence of interaction through distorted morphologies and tidal features provides us with a more confident assessment of galaxy interactions from this sample. We notice that, at a given luminosity or stellar mass content, the fraction of AGNs is larger for pair galaxies exhibiting evidence for strong interaction and tidal features which also show signs of strong star formation activity. Nevertheless, this process accounts only for a ~10per cent increase of the fraction of AGNs. As in previous works, we find AGN hosts to be redder and with a larger concentration morphological index than non-AGN galaxies. This effect does not depend on whether AGN hosts are in pairs or in isolation. The OIII luminosity of AGNs with strong interaction features is found to be significantly larger than that of other AGNs, either in pairs or in isolation. Estimations of the accretion rate, L[OIII]/MBH, show that AGNs in merging pairs are actively feeding their black holes, regardless of their stellar masses. We also find that the luminosity of the companion galaxy seems to be a key parameter in the determination of the black hole activity. At a given host luminosity, both the OIII luminosity and the L[ OIII]/MBH are significantly larger in AGNs with a bright companion (Mr < -20) than otherwise.

Global effects of interactions on galaxy evolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kennicutt, Robert C., Jr.

1990-01-01

Recent observations of the evolutionary properties of paired and interacting galaxies are reviewed, with special emphasis on their global emission properties and star formation rates. Data at several wavelengths provide strong confirmation of the hypothesis, proposed originally by Larson and Tinsley, that interactions trigger global bursts of star formation in galaxies. The nature and properties of the starbursts, and their overall role in galactic evolution are also discussed.

Traces de l'interaction entre galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duc, Pierre-Alain

2016-08-01

Within a galaxy, collisions between stars are exceptional; collisions between galaxies are themselves much more frequent. They are even supposed to play a major role in the formation of structures according to the standard hierarchical cosmological model. Gravitational interactions, tidal forces and following mergers shape the morphology of galaxies, and leave vestiges which can survive for a few Gyr. They consist of stellar shells, streams, tails and plumes which emit a diffuse and extended optical light. Several deep imaging projects use telescopes of all sizes to try to detect this light. We detail here what the census of collisional debris can tel us about the past history of galaxies and about the models and simulations supposedly accounting for it.

The Temperature-Density Relation in the Intergalactic Medium at Redshift langzrang = 2.4

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rudie, Gwen C.; Steidel, Charles C.; Pettini, Max

2012-10-01

We present new measurements of the temperature-density (T-ρ) relation for neutral hydrogen in the 2.0 < z < 2.8 intergalactic medium (IGM) using a sample of ~6000 individual H I absorbers fitted with Voigt profiles constrained in all cases by multiple Lyman series transitions. We find model-independent evidence for a positive correlation between the column density of H I (N H I ) and the minimum observed velocity width of absorbers (b min). With minimal interpretation, this implies that the T-ρ relation in the IGM is not "inverted," contrary to many recent studies. Fitting b min as a function of N H I results in line-width-column-density dependence of the form b min = b 0(N H I /N H I,0)Γ-1 with a minimum line width at mean density (\\rho /\\bar{\\rho }= 1, N_H\\,\\mathsc{i, 0} = 10^{13.6} cm-2) of b 0 = 17.9 ± 0.2 km s-1 and a power-law index of (Γ - 1) = 0.15 ± 0.02. Using analytic arguments, these measurements imply an "equation of state" for the IGM at langzrang = 2.4 of the form T=T_0 \\left(\\rho /\\bar{\\rho }\\right)^{\\gamma -1} with a temperature at mean density of T 0 = [1.94 ± 0.05] × 104 K and a power-law index (γ - 1) = 0.46 ± 0.05. Based on data obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.

A galaxy rapidly forming stars 700 million years after the Big Bang at redshift 7.51.

PubMed

Finkelstein, S L; Papovich, C; Dickinson, M; Song, M; Tilvi, V; Koekemoer, A M; Finkelstein, K D; Mobasher, B; Ferguson, H C; Giavalisco, M; Reddy, N; Ashby, M L N; Dekel, A; Fazio, G G; Fontana, A; Grogin, N A; Huang, J-S; Kocevski, D; Rafelski, M; Weiner, B J; Willner, S P

2013-10-24

Of several dozen galaxies observed spectroscopically that are candidates for having a redshift (z) in excess of seven, only five have had their redshifts confirmed via Lyman α emission, at z = 7.008, 7.045, 7.109, 7.213 and 7.215 (refs 1-4). The small fraction of confirmed galaxies may indicate that the neutral fraction in the intergalactic medium rises quickly at z > 6.5, given that Lyman α is resonantly scattered by neutral gas. The small samples and limited depth of previous observations, however, makes these conclusions tentative. Here we report a deep near-infrared spectroscopic survey of 43 photometrically-selected galaxies with z > 6.5. We detect a near-infrared emission line from only a single galaxy, confirming that some process is making Lyman α difficult to detect. The detected emission line at a wavelength of 1.0343 micrometres is likely to be Lyman α emission, placing this galaxy at a redshift z = 7.51, an epoch 700 million years after the Big Bang. This galaxy's colours are consistent with significant metal content, implying that galaxies become enriched rapidly. We calculate a surprisingly high star-formation rate of about 330 solar masses per year, which is more than a factor of 100 greater than that seen in the Milky Way. Such a galaxy is unexpected in a survey of our size, suggesting that the early Universe may harbour a larger number of intense sites of star formation than expected.

Interacting Group of Galaxies Known as Stephan Quintet

NASA Image and Video Library

2005-05-05

This ultraviolet image from NASA Galaxy Evolution Explorer is of the interacting group of galaxies known as Stephan Quintet NGC 7317, NGC 7318A, NGC 7318B, NGC 7319, NGC 7320, lower left. Of the five galaxies in this tightly packed group, NGC 7320 (the large spiral in the group) is probably a foreground galaxy and not associated with the other four. The spiral galaxy in the upper right is NGC 7331. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07905

The faint intergalactic-medium red-shifted emission balloon: future UV observations with EMCCDs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kyne, Gillian; Hamden, Erika T.; Lingner, Nicole; Morrissey, Patrick; Nikzad, Shouleh; Martin, D. Christopher

2016-08-01

We present the latest developments in our joint NASA/CNES suborbital project. This project is a balloon-borne UV multi-object spectrograph, which has been designed to detect faint emission from the circumgalactic medium (CGM) around low redshift galaxies. One major change from FIREBall-1 has been the use of a delta-doped Electron Multiplying CCD (EMCCD). EMCCDs can be used in photon-counting (PC) mode to achieve extremely low readout noise (¡ 1e-). Our testing initially focused on reducing clock-induced-charge (CIC) through wave shaping and well depth optimisation with the CCD Controller for Counting Photons (CCCP) from Nüvü. This optimisation also includes methods for reducing dark current, via cooling and substrate voltage adjustment. We present result of laboratory noise measurements including dark current. Furthermore, we will briefly present some initial results from our first set of on-sky observations using a delta-doped EMCCD on the 200 inch telescope at Palomar using the Palomar Cosmic Web Imager (PCWI).

Spatially resolved medium resolution spectroscopy of an interacting E+A (post-starburst) system with the Subaru Telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goto, Tomotsugu; Yagi, Masafumi; Yamauchi, Chisato

2008-12-01

We have performed spatially resolved medium resolution long-slit spectroscopy of a nearby E+A (post-starburst) galaxy system, SDSSJ161330.18+510335.5, with the FOCAS spectrograph mounted on the Subaru Telescope. This E+A galaxy has an obvious companion galaxy 14kpc in front with the velocity difference of 61.8kms-1. Both galaxies have obviously disturbed morphology. Thus, this E+A system provides us with a perfect opportunity to investigate the relation between the post-starburst phenomena and galaxy-galaxy interaction. We have found that the Hδ equivalent width (EW) of the E+A galaxy is greater than 7Å galaxy wide (8.5kpc) with no significant spatial variation. The E+A galaxy has a weak [OIII] emission (EW ~ 1Å) offset by ~2.6kpc from the peak of the Balmer absorption lines. We detected a rotational velocity in the companion galaxy of >175kms-1. The progenitor of the companion may have been a rotationally supported, but yet passive S0 galaxy. We did not detect significant rotation on the E+A galaxy. A metallicity estimate based on the r - H colour suggests Z = 0.008 and 0.02, for the E+A and the companion galaxies, respectively. Assuming these metallicity estimates, the age of the E+A galaxy after quenching the star formation is estimated to be 100-500Myr, with its centre having a slightly younger stellar population. The companion galaxy is estimated to have an older stellar population of >2Gyr of age with no significant spatial variation. These findings are inconsistent with a simple picture where the dynamical interaction creates infall of the gas reservoir that causes the central starburst/post-starburst. Instead, our results present an important example where the galaxy-galaxy interaction can trigger a galaxy-wide post-starburst phenomenon. Based on data collected at the Subaru Telescope, which is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. E-mail: tomo@ifa.hawaii.edu ‡ Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) SPD Fellow. �

A chemical model for the interstellar medium in galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bovino, S.; Grassi, T.; Capelo, Pedro R.; Schleicher, D. R. G.; Banerjee, R.

2016-05-01

Aims: We present and test chemical models for three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of galaxies. We explore the effect of changing key parameters such as metallicity, radiation, and non-equilibrium versus equilibrium metal cooling approximations on the transition between the gas phases in the interstellar medium. Methods: The microphysics was modelled by employing the public chemistry package KROME, and the chemical networks were tested to work in a wide range of densities and temperatures. We describe a simple H/He network following the formation of H2 and a more sophisticated network that includes metals. Photochemistry, thermal processes, and different prescriptions for the H2 catalysis on dust are presented and tested within a one-zone framework. The resulting network is made publicly available on the KROME webpage. Results: We find that employing an accurate treatment of the dust-related processes induces a faster HI-H2 transition. In addition, we show when the equilibrium assumption for metal cooling holds and how a non-equilibrium approach affects the thermal evolution of the gas and the HII-HI transition. Conclusions: These models can be employed in any hydrodynamical code via an interface to KROME and can be applied to different problems including isolated galaxies, cosmological simulations of galaxy formation and evolution, supernova explosions in molecular clouds, and the modelling of star-forming regions. The metal network can be used for a comparison with observational data of CII 158 μm emission both for high-redshift and for local galaxies.

Absorption systems at z ˜ 2 as a probe of the circum galactic medium: a probabilistic approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mongardi, C.; Viel, M.; D'Odorico, V.; Kim, T.-S.; Barai, P.; Murante, G.; Monaco, P.

2018-05-01

We characterize the properties of the intergalactic medium (IGM) around a sample of galaxies extracted from state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulations of structure formation in a cosmological volume of 25 Mpc comoving at z ˜ 2. The simulations are based on two different sub-resolution schemes for star formation and supernova feedback: the MUlti-Phase Particle Integrator (MUPPI) scheme and the Effective Model. We develop a quantitative and probabilistic analysis based on the apparent optical depth method of the properties of the absorbers as a function of impact parameter from their nearby galaxies: in such a way we probe different environments from circumgalactic medium (CGM) to low density filaments. Absorbers' properties are then compared with a spectroscopic observational data set obtained from high resolution quasar spectra. Our main focus is on the NCIV - NHI relation around simulated galaxies: the results obtained with MUPPI and the Effective model are remarkably similar, with small differences only confined to regions at impact parameters b = [1 - 3] × rvir. Using {C IV} as a tracer of the metallicity, we obtain evidence that the observed metal absorption systems have the highest probability to be confined in a region of 150-400 kpc around galaxies. Near-filament environments have instead metallicities too low to be probed by present-day telescopes, but could be probed by future spectroscopical studies. Finally we compute {C IV} covering fractions which are in agreement with observational data.

Characterizing the Interstellar and Circumgalactic Medium in Star-forming Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Xinnan; Shapley, Alice; Crystal Martin, Alison Coil, Charles Steidel, Tucker Jones, Daniel Stark, Allison Strom

2018-01-01

Rest-frame UV and optical spectroscopy provide valuable information on the physical properties of the neutral and ionized interstellar medium (ISM) in star-forming galaxies, including both the systemic interstellar component originating from HII regions, and the multi-phase outflowing component associated with star-formation feedback. My thesis focuses on both the systemic and outflowing ISM in star-forming galaxies at redshift z ~ 1-4. With an unprecedented sample at z~1 with the rest-frame near-UV coverage, we examined how the kinematics of the warm and cool phrases of gas, probed by the interstellar CIV and low-ionization features, respectively, relate to each other. The spectral properties of CIV strongly correlate with the current star-formation rate, indicating a distinct nature of highly-ionized outflowing gas being driven by massive star formation. Additionally, we used the same set of z~1 galaxies to study the properties of the systemic ISM in HII regions by analyzing the nebular CIII] emission. CIII] emission tends to be stronger in lower-mass, bluer, and fainter galaxies with lower metallicity, suggesting that the strong CIII] emitters at lower redshifts can be ideal analogs of young, bursty galaxies at z > 6, which are possibly responsible for reionizing the universe. We are currently investigating the redshift evolution of the neutral, circumgalactic gas in a sample of ~1100 Lyman Break Galaxies at z ~ 2-4. The negative correlation between Lya emission and low-ionization interstellar absorption line strengths appears to be universal across different redshifts, but the fine-structure line emitting regions are found to be more compact for higher-redshift galaxies. With the detailed observational constraints provided by the rest-UV and rest-optical spectroscopy, our study sheds light on how the interstellar and circumgalactic gas components and different phases of gas connect to each other, and therefore provides a comprehensive picture of the overall

Particle accelerators in the hot spots of radio galaxy 3C 445, imaged with the VLT.

PubMed

Prieto, M Almudena; Brunetti, Gianfranco; Mack, Karl-Heinz

2002-10-04

Hot spots (HSs) are regions of enhanced radio emission produced by supersonic jets at the tip of the radio lobes of powerful radio sources. Obtained with the Very Large Telescope (VLT), images of the HSs in the radio galaxy 3C 445 show bright knots embedded in diffuse optical emission distributed along the post-shock region created by the impact of the jet into the intergalactic medium. The observations reported here confirm that relativistic electrons are accelerated by Fermi-I acceleration processes in HSs. Furthermore, both the diffuse emission tracing the rims of the front shock and the multiple knots demonstrate the presence of additional continuous re-acceleration processes of electrons (Fermi-II).

Growth problems of stellar black holes in early galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orofino, M. C.; Ferrara, A.; Gallerani, S.

2018-06-01

The nature of the seeds of the observed high-z super-massive black holes (SMBH) is unknown. Although different options have been proposed, involving e.g. intermediate mass direct collapse black holes, BH remnants of massive stars remain the most natural explanation. To identify the most favorable conditions (if any) for their rapid growth, we study the accretion rate of a M• = 100M⊙ BH formed in a typical z = 10 galaxy under different conditions (e.g. galaxy structure, BH initial position and velocity). We model the galaxy baryonic content and follow the BH orbit and accretion history for 300 Myr (the time span in 10 > z > 7), assuming the radiation-regulated accretion model by Park & Ricotti (2013). We find that, within the limits of our model, BH seeds cannot grow by more than 30%, suggesting that accretion on light-seed models are inadequate to explain high-z SMBH. We also compute the X-ray emission from such accreting stellar BH population in the [0.5 - 8] keV band and find it comparable to the one produced by high-mass X-ray binaries. This study suggests that early BHs, by X-ray pre-heating of the intergalactic medium at cosmic dawn, might leave a specific signature on the HI 21 cm line power spectrum potentially detectable with SKA.

The line-locking hypothesis, absorption by intervening galaxies, and the z = 1.95 peak in redshifts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burbidge, G.

1978-01-01

The controversy over whether the absorption spectrum in QSOs is intrinsic or extrinsic is approached with attention to the peak of redshifts at z = 1.95. Also considered are the line-locking and the intervening galaxy hypotheses. The line locking hypothesis is based on observations that certain ratios found in absorption line QSOs are preferred, and leads inevitably to the conclusion that the absorption line systems are intrinsic. The intervening galaxy hypothesis is based on absorption redshifts resulting from given absorption cross-sections of galactic clusters and the intergalactic medium, and would lead to the theoretical conclusion that most QSOs show strong absorption, a conclusion which is not supported by empirical data. The 1.95 peak, on the other hand, is most probably an intrinsic property of QSOs. The peak is enhanced by redshift, and it is noted that both an emission and an absorption redshift peak are seen at 1.95.

A filament of dark matter between two clusters of galaxies.

PubMed

Dietrich, Jörg P; Werner, Norbert; Clowe, Douglas; Finoguenov, Alexis; Kitching, Tom; Miller, Lance; Simionescu, Aurora

2012-07-12

It is a firm prediction of the concordance cold-dark-matter cosmological model that galaxy clusters occur at the intersection of large-scale structure filaments. The thread-like structure of this 'cosmic web' has been traced by galaxy redshift surveys for decades. More recently, the warm–hot intergalactic medium (a sparse plasma with temperatures of 10(5) kelvin to 10(7) kelvin) residing in low-redshift filaments has been observed in emission and absorption. However, a reliable direct detection of the underlying dark-matter skeleton, which should contain more than half of all matter, has remained elusive, because earlier candidates for such detections were either falsified or suffered from low signal-to-noise ratios and unphysical misalignments of dark and luminous matter. Here we report the detection of a dark-matter filament connecting the two main components of the Abell 222/223 supercluster system from its weak gravitational lensing signal, both in a non-parametric mass reconstruction and in parametric model fits. This filament is coincident with an overdensity of galaxies and diffuse, soft-X-ray emission, and contributes a mass comparable to that of an additional galaxy cluster to the total mass of the supercluster. By combining this result with X-ray observations, we can place an upper limit of 0.09 on the hot gas fraction (the mass of X-ray-emitting gas divided by the total mass) in the filament.

Drivers of Turbulence in the Neutral Interstellar Medium of Dwarf Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stilp, Adrienne M.

The cause of HI velocity dispersions in the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies is often attributed to star formation, but recent evidence has shown these two quantities are not connected in regions of low star formation. This lack of connection is most apparent in dwarf galaxies and the outer disks of spiral galaxies. However, unique data sets have recently been collected that can help address this discrepancy. The ACS Nearby Survey Treasury Project (ANGST) has measured time-resolved star formation histories (SFHs) in ˜ 70 nearby galaxies. The followup Very Large Array-ANGST survey (VLA-ANGST) provides complementary HI observations of a subset of ANGST galaxies. In this thesis, I explore the connection between star formation and HI kinematics in a number of nearby dwarf galaxies. I first present the Very Large Array-ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury Project (ANGST). VLA-ANGST was designed to provide high spatial and velocity resolution observations of the HI component of the interstellar medium (ISM) in ANGST galaxies. I describe the data calibration and imaging procedures, and then present the publicly-available data products. The observations from this survey and from The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey (THINGS) comprise the majority of data in my thesis. Using VLA-ANGST and THINGS data, I present a method to measure the average HI kinematics in a number of nearby dwarf galaxies by co-adding individual line-of-sight profiles. These "superprofiles" are composed of a central narrow peak (˜ 6-10 km s-1) with higher velocity wings to either side. When scaled to the same half-width half-maximum, the shapes of the superprofiles are very similar. I interpret the central peak as representative of the average turbulent motion; the wings are then due to HI moving faster than expected compared to the average kinematics. I then compare the superprofile parameters to physical properties such as mass surface density and star formation intensity. The average velocity dispersion

Beacons into the Cosmic Dark Ages: Boosted Transmission of Lyα from UV Bright Galaxies at z ≳ 7

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mason, Charlotte A.; Treu, Tommaso; de Barros, Stephane; Dijkstra, Mark; Fontana, Adriano; Mesinger, Andrei; Pentericci, Laura; Trenti, Michele; Vanzella, Eros

2018-04-01

Recent detections of Lyman alpha (Lyα) emission from z > 7.5 galaxies were somewhat unexpected given a dearth of previous non-detections in this era when the intergalactic medium (IGM) is still highly neutral. But these detections were from UV bright galaxies, which preferentially live in overdensities that reionize early, and have significantly Doppler-shifted Lyα line profiles emerging from their interstellar media (ISM), making them less affected by the global IGM state. Using a combination of reionization simulations and empirical ISM models we show, as a result of these two effects, that UV bright galaxies in overdensities have >2× higher transmission through the z ∼ 7 IGM than typical field galaxies, and that this boosted transmission is enhanced as the neutral fraction increases. The boosted transmission is not sufficient to explain the observed high Lyα fraction of M UV ≲ ‑22 galaxies, suggesting that Lyα emitted by these galaxies must be stronger than expected due to enhanced production and/or selection effects. Despite the bias of UV bright galaxies to reside in overdensities we show Lyα observations of such galaxies can accurately measure the global neutral hydrogen fraction, particularly when Lyα from UV faint galaxies is extinguished, making them ideal candidates for spectroscopic follow-up into the cosmic Dark Ages.

The Role of Galaxies and AGN in Reionising the IGM - slowromancapi@: Keck Spectroscopy of 5 < z < 7 Galaxies in the QSO Field J1148+5251

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kakiichi, Koki; Ellis, Richard S.; Laporte, Nicolas; Zitrin, Adi; Eilers, Anna-Christina; Ryan-Weber, Emma; Meyer, Romain A.; Robertson, Brant; Stark, Daniel P.; Bosman, Sarah E. I.

2018-05-01

We introduce a new method for determining the influence of galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGN) on the intergalactic medium (IGM) at high redshift and illustrate its potential via a first application to the field of the z = 6.42 QSO J1148+5251. Correlating spatial positions Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) with the Lyman alpha forest seen in the spectrum of a background QSO, we provide a statistical measure of the typical escape fraction of Lyman continuum photons. Using Keck DEIMOS spectroscopy to locate 7 colour-selected LBGs in the range 5.3 ≲ z ≲ 6.4 we examine the spatial correlation between this sample and Lyα/Lyβ transmission fluctuations in a Keck ESI spectrum of the QSO. Interpreting the statistical H I proximity effect as arising from faint galaxies clustered around the LBGs, we translate the observed mean Lyα transmitted flux into a constraint on the mean escape fraction ⟨fesc⟩ ≥ 0.08 at z ≃ 6. We also report individual transverse H I proximity effect for a z = 6.177 luminous LBG via a Lyβ transmission spike and two broad Lyα transmission spikes around the z = 5.701 AGN. We discuss the origin of such associations which suggest that while faint galaxies are primarily driving reionisation, luminous galaxies and AGN may provide important contributions to the UV background or thermal fluctuations of the IGM at z ≃ 6. Although a limited sample, our results demonstrate the potential of making progress using this method in resolving one of the most challenging aspects of the contribution of galaxies and AGN to cosmic reionisation.

Tracing the Energetics of the Universe with Constellation-X: Example Scientific Investigations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hornschemeier, Ann

2008-01-01

Constellation-X will enable us to trace the energetics of a broad range of astrophysical phenomena owing to its capabilities for high spectral resolution X-ray spectroscopy. The dominant baryonic component of galaxy clusters and groups resides in the X-ray bandpass, and the hot phase of the ISM in galaxies harbors the heavy metal production from previous generation of stars. This talk will focus on a few example science questions that are expected to be important during the Constellation-X era. These include the nature of the missing baryons expected to reside in the hot portion of the Warm Hot Intergalactic Medium, which Constellation-X will address via absorption spectroscopy studies of background AGN. We will also discuss spatially resolved spectroscopy of metal enrichment and the effects of turbulence in clusters & groups and of starburst galaxy winds which deposit energy & metals into the Intergalactic Medium.

How Do Inflows and Outflows from Galaxies Create Their Inner Circumgalactic Medium?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bowen, David

2017-08-01

We propose using COS to observe 7 QSO sightlines within half a virial radius each of two galaxies in order to probe their circumgalactic mediums (CGMs) along multiple sightlines. Results from higher redshift QSO absorption line surveys suggest that this is the region where most metal line absorbing gas clouds reside, but their origin remains controversial. The two spiral galaxies studied in this proposal are NGC 4565 (the Needle Galaxy) which is highly inclined (i=86 degrees), and NGC 3184, which has a very low inclination (i=9 degrees). Their orientation makes them ideal targets for looking for kinematic and metallicity signatures from outflows along the minor axis, or inflows into the disk along the major axis. For both galaxies, we will measure how HI and metal line column densities change globally with radius, and how the ionzation structure of the absorbers varies with position. We predict that the HI column densities we detect will be similar to the Lyman Limit, or partial-Lyman Limit systems, and that we will be able to measure the gas metallicity in these clouds. These measurements can be used to infer whether the absorbing gas is flowing into the galaxy from the IGM (where the metallicity is lower than in the galaxy) or out of the galaxy (which should be metal enriched). Given that LLS and pLLS have been shown to have a bimodal distribution in their metallicity, we will see which of the two regimes the gas in our galaxies belong to, and even whether the bimodality can be seen in a single galaxy towards different sightlines.

Starbursts in interacting galaxies: Observations and models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bernloehr, Konrad

1990-01-01

Starbursts have been a puzzling field of research for more than a decade. It is evident that they played a significant role in the evolution of many galaxies but still quite little is known about the starburst mechanisms. A way towards a better interpretation of the available data is the comparison with evolution models of starburst. The modelling of starbursts and the fitting of such model starbursts to observed data is discussed. The models were applied to a subset of starburst and post-starburst galaxies in a sample of 30 interacting systems. These galaxies are not ultraluminous far infrared (FIR) galaxies but rather ordinary starburst galaxies with FIR luminosities of a few 10(exp 10) to a few 10(exp 11) solar luminosities.

Jet Propagation Through Irregular Media and the Impact of Lobes on Galaxy Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiita, Paul J.

2004-09-01

We review results of two- and three-dimensional simulations of jets striking clouds with a view toward determining the conditions under which extragalactic jets might stably survive such collisions, and thereby produce “dog-leg” or wide-angle-tail morphologies. Under most circumstances, the jet either destroys the cloud and has its stability little affected or it stalls and is rapidly destabilized by the impact. But there does appear to be a limited range in parameter space where jets can be deflected by clouds but still survive for an extended period. Some of the effects of radio lobes on protogalactic clouds are also considered. At redshifts above 2, the number of radio galaxies (RGs) is much larger than it is in the local universe, and their lobes may well have filled a large fraction of the web of baryonic matter that is still forming galaxies at that epoch. The overpressures in those lobes can trigger extensive star formation on galactic scales and also may have major implications for the spreading of magnetic fields and metals through the intergalactic medium.

Kinematic classification of non-interacting spiral galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiegert, Theresa; English, Jayanne

2014-01-01

Using neutral hydrogen (HI) rotation curves of 79 galaxies, culled from the literature, as well as measured from HI data, we present a method for classifying disk galaxies by their kinematics. In order to investigate fundamental kinematic properties we concentrate on non-interacting spiral galaxies. We employ a simple parameterized form for the rotation curve in order to derive the three parameters: the maximum rotational velocity, the turnover radius and a measure of the slope of the rotation curve beyond the turnover radius. Our approach uses the statistical Hierarchical Clustering method to guide our division of the resultant 3D distribution of galaxies into five classes. Comparing the kinematic classes in this preliminary classification scheme to a number of galaxy properties, we find that our class containing galaxies with the largest rotational velocities has a mean morphological type of Sb/Sbc while the other classes tend to later types. Other trends also generally agree with those described by previous researchers. In particular we confirm correlations between increasing maximum rotational velocity and the following observed properties: increasing brightness in B-band, increasing size of the optical disk (D25) and increasing star formation rate (as derived using radio continuum data). Our analysis also suggests that lower velocities are associated with a higher ratio of the HI mass over the dynamical mass. Additionally, three galaxies exhibit a drop in rotational velocity amplitude of ≳20% after the turnover radius. However recent investigations suggest that they have interacted with minor companions which is a common cause for declining rotation curves.

The host galaxy of a fast radio burst.

PubMed

Keane, E F; Johnston, S; Bhandari, S; Barr, E; Bhat, N D R; Burgay, M; Caleb, M; Flynn, C; Jameson, A; Kramer, M; Petroff, E; Possenti, A; van Straten, W; Bailes, M; Burke-Spolaor, S; Eatough, R P; Stappers, B W; Totani, T; Honma, M; Furusawa, H; Hattori, T; Morokuma, T; Niino, Y; Sugai, H; Terai, T; Tominaga, N; Yamasaki, S; Yasuda, N; Allen, R; Cooke, J; Jencson, J; Kasliwal, M M; Kaplan, D L; Tingay, S J; Williams, A; Wayth, R; Chandra, P; Perrodin, D; Berezina, M; Mickaliger, M; Bassa, C

2016-02-25

In recent years, millisecond-duration radio signals originating in distant galaxies appear to have been discovered in the so-called fast radio bursts. These signals are dispersed according to a precise physical law and this dispersion is a key observable quantity, which, in tandem with a redshift measurement, can be used for fundamental physical investigations. Every fast radio burst has a dispersion measurement, but none before now have had a redshift measurement, because of the difficulty in pinpointing their celestial coordinates. Here we report the discovery of a fast radio burst and the identification of a fading radio transient lasting ~6 days after the event, which we use to identify the host galaxy; we measure the galaxy's redshift to be z = 0.492 ± 0.008. The dispersion measure and redshift, in combination, provide a direct measurement of the cosmic density of ionized baryons in the intergalactic medium of ΩIGM = 4.9 ± 1.3 per cent, in agreement with the expectation from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, and including all of the so-called 'missing baryons'. The ~6-day radio transient is largely consistent with the radio afterglow of a short γ-ray burst, and its existence and timescale do not support progenitor models such as giant pulses from pulsars, and supernovae. This contrasts with the interpretation of another recently discovered fast radio burst, suggesting that there are at least two classes of bursts.

Star formation in H I tails: HCG 92, HCG 100 and six interacting systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Mello, D. F.; Urrutia-Viscarra, F.; Mendes de Oliveira, C.; Torres-Flores, S.; Carrasco, E. R.; Cypriano, E.

2012-11-01

We present new Gemini spectra of 14 new objects found within the H I tails of Hickson Compact Groups (HCGs) 92 and 100. Nine of them are Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) far-ultraviolet (FUV) and near-ultraviolet (NUV) sources. The spectra confirm that these objects are members of the compact groups and have metallicities close to solar, with an average value of 12+log(O/H) ˜ 8.5. They have average FUV luminosities 7 × 1040 erg s-1 and very young ages (<100 Myr), and two of them resemble tidal dwarf galaxy (TDG) candidates. We suggest that they were created within gas clouds that were ejected during galaxy-galaxy interactions into the intergalactic medium, which would explain the high metallicities of the objects, inherited from the parent galaxies from which the gas originated. We conduct a search for similar objects in six interacting systems with extended H I tails: NGC 2623, NGC 3079, NGC 3359, NGC 3627, NGC 3718 and NGC 4656. We found 35 ultraviolet (UV) sources with ages < 100 Myr; however, most of them are on average less luminous/massive than the UV sources found around HCG 92 and HCG 100. We speculate that this might be an environmental effect and that compact groups of galaxies are more favourable to TDG formation than other interacting systems. Based on observations obtained at the Gemini Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF) on behalf of the Gemini partnership: the NSF (United States), the Science and Technology Facilities Council (United Kingdom), the National Research Council (Canada), CONICYT (Chile), the Australian Research Council (Australia), Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia (Brazil) and Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion Productiva (Argentina) - Observing run ID: GN-2003A-Q-53 and GN-2007B-Q-87.

A uniform metallicity in the outskirts of massive, nearby galaxy clusters

DOE PAGES

Urban, O.; Werner, N.; Allen, S. W.; ...

2017-06-20

Suzaku measurements of a homogeneous metal distribution of Z ~ 0:3 Solar in the outskirts of the nearby Perseus cluster suggest that chemical elements were deposited and mixed into the intergalactic medium before clusters formed, likely over 10 billion years ago. A key prediction of this early enrichment scenario is that the intracluster medium in all massive clusters should be uniformly enriched to a similar level. Here, we confirm this prediction by determining the iron abundances in the outskirts (r > 0:25r200) of a sample of ten other nearby galaxy clusters observed with Suzaku for which robust measurements based onmore » the Fe-K lines can be made. Across our sample the iron abundances are consistent with a constant value, ZFe = 0:316 ± 0:012 Solar (Χ 2 = 28:85 for 25 degrees of freedom). This is remarkably similar to the measurements for the Perseus cluster of ZFe = 0:314±0:012 Solar, using the Solar abundance scale of Asplund et al. (2009).« less

The theory of QSO absorption line systems and their relationship to the galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Charlton, Jane

1993-01-01

The fundamental goal of this effort is to paint a picture of what the Ly-alpha forest clouds are and how they are distributed in space. Progress during the first phase of this program involved development of the 'Cheshire Cat Model' of Ly-alpha clouds in which systems over a large range of column densities are produced by disks with somewhat smaller column densities than those of normal galaxies. A prediction of the slab model of Ly-alpha clouds was confirmed by a new observational result, and the comparison of models to the new data allowed an estimate of the pressure of the intergalactic medium. This result should be forthcoming in pre-print form within the next month. The various results will now be described in more detail.

A Fundamental Test for Galaxy Formation Models: Matching the Lyman-α Absorption Profiles of Galactic Halos Over Three Decades in Distance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sorini, Daniele; Oñorbe, José; Hennawi, Joseph F.; Lukić, Zarija

2018-06-01

Galaxy formation depends critically on the physical state of gas in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) and its interface with the intergalactic medium (IGM), determined by the complex interplay between inflow from the IGM and outflows from supernovae and/or AGN feedback. The average Lyα absorption profile around galactic halos represents a powerful tool to probe their gaseous environments. We compare predictions from Illustris and Nyx hydrodynamical simulations with the observed absorption around foreground quasars, damped Lyα systems, and Lyman-break galaxies. We show how large-scale BOSS and small-scale quasar pair measurements can be combined to precisely constrain the absorption profile over three decades in transverse distance 20 {kpc}≲ b≲ 20 {Mpc}. Far from galaxies, ≳ 2 {Mpc}, the simulations converge to the same profile and provide a reasonable match to the observations. This asymptotic agreement arises because the ΛCDM model successfully describes the ambient IGM and represents a critical advantage of studying the mean absorption profile. However, significant differences between the simulations, and between simulations and observations, are present on scales 20 {kpc}≲ b≲ 2 {Mpc}, illustrating the challenges of accurately modeling and resolving galaxy formation physics. It is noteworthy that these differences are observed as far out as ∼ 2 {Mpc}, indicating that the “sphere of influence” of galaxies could extend to approximately ∼7 times the halo virial radius. Current observations are very precise on these scales and can thus strongly discriminate between different galaxy formation models. We demonstrate that the Lyα absorption profile is primarily sensitive to the underlying temperature–density relationship of diffuse gas around galaxies, and argue that it thus provides a fundamental test of galaxy formation models.

Photon underproduction crisis and the redshift evolution of escape fraction of hydrogen ionizing photons from galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khaire, Vikram; Srianand, Raghunathan

2016-01-01

In the standard picture, the only sources of cosmic UV background are the quasars and the star forming galaxies. The hydrogen ionizing emissivity from galaxies depends on a parameter known as escape fraction (fesc). It is the ratio of the escaping hydrogen ionizing photons from galaxies to the total produced by their stellar population. Using available multi-wavelength and multi-epoch galaxy luminosity function measurements, we update the galaxy emissivity by estimating a self-consistent combination of the star formation rate density and dust attenuation. Using the recent quasar luminosity function measurements, we present an updated hydrogen ionizing emissivity from quasars which shows a factor of ~2 increase as compared to the previous estimates at z<2. We use these in a cosmological radiative transfer code developed by us to generate the UV background and show that the recently inferred high values of hydrogen photoionization rates at low redshifts can be easily obtained with reasonable values of fesc. This resolves the problem of 'photon underproduction crisis' and shows that there is no need to invoke non-standard sources of the UV background such as decaying dark matter particles. We will present the implications of this updated quasar and galaxy emissivity on the values of fesc at high redshifts and on the cosmic reionization. We will also present the effect of the updated UV background on the inferred properties of the intergalactic medium, especially on the Lyman alpha forest and the metal line absorption systems.

The Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium Explorer (WHIMex) Mission Concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lillie, Charles F.; Cash, W. C.; McEntaffer, R. L.; Zhang, W.; O'Dell, S.; Bautz, M.; Elvis, M.

2011-05-01

WHIMEx is a low-cost, highly capable, single instrument X-ray observatory proposed as a NASA Explorer 2011 mission. WHIMEx will use high resolution X-ray spectroscopy (R ≥ 4000) to probe the hot, tenuous gas that populates the great stretches between the galaxies - the place where most of the baryons in the Universe reside. The bulk of this gas is so hot that it can only be studied in the soft X-ray region where the atomic diagnostics for highly ionized species reside. And this gas is so tenuous that it can only be observed in absorption. To detect the absorption lines of O VII and O VIII along the line of sight to distant AGN requires an order of magnitude improvement in both spectral resolution and collecting area over the current best X-ray spectrographs on Chandra and XMM-Newton. WHIMEx achieves this goal in a compact and affordable package through the application of technologies that were developed over the last decade for the International X-ray Observatory. WHIMex uses ultra-thin, light, densely nested parabolic-hyperbolic mirror pairs to create a telescope with a high collecting area and 15 arcsecond resolution. The X-ray beam is dispersed in wavelength by an array of radial gratings in the extreme off-plane mount. Spectral resolving power of 4000 (λ/δλ) is expected in the 0.15 to 2keV band to bring weak absorption lines out of the noise. A collecting area up to 360 cm2 will enable spectral observations of high red shift AGNs.If selected WHIMEx could be launched in mid- 2017 on a Taurus or Athena II from Vandenberg AFB into its 540 km, 70° inclination low earth orbit. In flight, it would open up a new field of exploration with high resolution observations of AGN outflows, the IGM, interstellar medium, mass transfer binaries, stellar coronae and much more

Quasar Absorption in the UV: Probing the Intergalactic Medium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weinberg, David; Katz, Neal

1998-01-01

The purpose of this project is to model the low-redshift Lyman-alpha forest and exploration of the relation between Lyman-alpha absorbers and galaxies. This paper shows that the simulation models that are so successful at explaining properties of the high-redshift forest also account for the most important results of observational studies of the low-redshift forest, from HST (especially the Quasar Absorption Line Key Project) and ground-based follow-up.

Multifrequency survey of the intergalactic cloud in the M96 group

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schneider, Stephen E.; Skrutskie, M. F.; Hacking, Perry B.; Young, Judith S.; Dickman, Robert L.

1989-01-01

The intergalactic cloud of neutral hydrogen in the M96 group are examined for signs of emission over a wide range of frequencies, from radio waves to X rays. Past or present stellar activity in the gas might have been expected to produce detectable visual infrared, CO, OH, or radio recombination-line emission. None was detected. The limits are used to study physical conditions in the intergalactic gas. In particular, B and V band limits on starlight and IRAS limits on the presence of dust strongly constrain the presence of stars or stellar by-products. However, given the uncertainties about physical conditions in the intergalactic environment, it is difficult to rule out entirely the presence of stellar-processed materials. Results of neutral hydrogen mapping from a large-scale survey of the intergalactic cloud and surrounding region are also presented. These observations confirm that the gas is confined to a large ringlike structure. The simplest interpretation remains that the intergalactic gas in Leo is primordial.

An Empirical Determination of the Intergalactic Background Light from UV to FIR Wavelengths Using FIR Deep Galaxy Surveys and the Gamma-Ray Opacity of the Universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stecker, Floyd W.; Scully, Sean T.; Malkan, Matthew A.

2016-08-01

We have previously calculated the intergalactic background light (IBL) as a function of redshift from the Lyman limit in the far-ultraviolet to a wavelength of 5 μm in the near-infrared range, based purely on data from deep galaxy surveys. Here, we use similar methods to determine the mid- and far-infrared IBL from 5 to 850 μm. Our approach enables us to constrain the range of photon densities by determining the uncertainties in observationally determined luminosity densities and spectral gradients. By also including the effect of the 2.7 K cosmic background photons, we determine upper and lower limits on the opacity of the universe to γ-rays up to PeV energies within a 68% confidence band. Our direct results on the IBL are consistent with those from complimentary γ-ray analyses using observations from the Fermi γ-ray space telescope and the H.E.S.S. air Čerenkov telescope. Thus, we find no evidence of previously suggested processes for the modification of γ-ray spectra other than that of absorption by pair production alone.

SETI among galaxies by virtue of black holes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maccone, Claudio

2012-09-01

Black Hole radio bridge, having the distance of 2.5 million light years. The P2 Andromeda black hole is estimated to have a mass of about 40 million solar masses.The SgrA*-M32 (a dwarf elliptical galaxy satellite of Andromeda-M31) radio bridge, with a 2.65 million light year distance. The M32 black hole is estimated to have a mass of about 3 million solar masses.The SgrA*-M106 (also called NGC 4258, a spiral galaxy with anomalous arms) radio bridge, at about 24 million light years. The M106 black hole is estimated to have a mass of about 40 million solar masses.The SgrA*-Sombrero Galaxy (also called M104 or NGC 4594, an unbarred spiral galaxy) at a distance of 29.3 million light years. Its black hole is estimated to have a mass of 1 billion solar masses.The SgrA*-M87 radio bridge. M87 is the supergiant elliptical galaxy located at the center of the super-cluster of galaxies to which we belong, i.e. the Local Super Cluster, at the edge of which we are located. The distance between M87 and us is 53.5 million light years in the direction of the constellation of Virgo, which is why M87 and its surrounding clusters of galaxies are sometimes referred to as the Virgo Super Cluster. At the center of M87 is a supermassive black hole estimated to have a mass of 6.4 billion solar masses. M87 is also well known as “the jet galaxy” since a jet of energetic plasma originates at the core and extends out at least 5000 light-years.The conclusion that we draw from the mathematics describing these radio bridges across huge inter-galactic distances is surprising: they all perform better that the simple Sun-Alpha Cen A radio bridge, first studied in detail by this author in Ref. [1]. In other words, the powers necessary to keep the radio link between SgrA* and all of the above big black holes located in other nearby galaxies are smaller than the powers requested to keep the radio bridge between the Sun and Alpha Cen A. In other words still, despite inter-galactic distances are huge with

NASA's Hubble Finds Life is Too Fast, Too Furious for This Runaway Galaxy

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-03-05

This image combines NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observations with data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. As well as the electric blue ram pressure stripping streaks seen emanating from ESO 137-001, a giant gas stream can be seen extending towards the bottom of the frame, only visible in the X-ray part of the spectrum. Credit: NASA, ESA, CXC The spiral galaxy ESO 137-001 looks like a dandelion caught in a breeze in this new Hubble Space Telescope image. The galaxy is zooming toward the upper right of this image, in between other galaxies in the Norma cluster located over 200 million light-years away. The road is harsh: intergalactic gas in the Norma cluster is sparse, but so hot at 180 million degrees Fahrenheit that it glows in X-rays. The spiral plows through the seething intra-cluster gas so rapidly – at nearly 4.5 million miles per hour — that much of its own gas is caught and torn away. Astronomers call this "ram pressure stripping." The galaxy’s stars remain intact due to the binding force of their gravity. Tattered threads of gas, the blue jellyfish-tendrils trailing ESO 137-001 in the image, illustrate the process. Ram pressure has strung this gas away from its home in the spiral galaxy and out over intergalactic space. Once there, these strips of gas have erupted with young, massive stars, which are pumping out light in vivid blues and ultraviolet. The brown, smoky region near the center of the spiral is being pushed in a similar manner, although in this case it is small dust particles, and not gas, that are being dragged backwards by the intra-cluster medium. Read more here: 1.usa.gov/P0HSFh NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us

Physical Conditions of the Interstellar Medium in Star-forming Galaxies at z1.5

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hayashi, Masao; Ly, Chun; Shimasaku, Kazuhiro; Motohara, Kentaro; Malkan, Matthew A.; Nagao, Tohru; Kashikawa, Nobunari; Goto, Ryosuke; Naito, Yoshiaki

2015-01-01

We present results from Subaru/FMOS near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy of 118 star-forming galaxies at z approximately equal to 1.5 in the Subaru Deep Field. These galaxies are selected as [O II] lambda 3727 emitters at z approximately equal to 1.47 and 1.62 from narrow-band imaging. We detect H alpha emission line in 115 galaxies, [O III] lambda 5007 emission line in 45 galaxies, and H Beta, [N II] lambda 6584, and [S II]lambda lambda 6716, 6731 in 13, 16, and 6 galaxies, respectively. Including the [O II] emission line, we use the six strong nebular emission lines in the individual and composite rest-frame optical spectra to investigate physical conditions of the interstellar medium in star-forming galaxies at z approximately equal to 1.5. We find a tight correlation between H alpha and [O II], which suggests that [O II] can be a good star formation rate (SFR) indicator for galaxies at z approximately equal to 1.5. The line ratios of H alpha / [O II] are consistent with those of local galaxies. We also find that [O II] emitters have strong [O III] emission lines. The [O III]/[O II] ratios are larger than normal star-forming galaxies in the local Universe, suggesting a higher ionization parameter. Less massive galaxies have larger [O III]/[O II] ratios. With evidence that the electron density is consistent with local galaxies, the high ionization of galaxies at high redshifts may be attributed to a harder radiation field by a young stellar population and/or an increase in the number of ionizing photons from each massive star.

Uv Spectroscopy of Low-Redshift Active Galaxies -- Cyc 4

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boggess, Albert

1994-01-01

FOS will be used to measure the ultraviolet spectrum of active galaxies. Complementary and simultaneous visual and infrared data will also be obtained. The profile of the emission lines will provide information on the broadening mechanism and dynamics of the emitting regions. Comparison of the profile and radial velocity of the emission lines produced by species of different ioni- zation potential will allow the study of the thermal and density stratification of the emitting regions. The degree of asymmetry of lines at different wave- lengths will allow the absorbing material be identified and located. The ratio of the UV to visible lines, such as those for O I and He II will be used to estimate the reddening along the line of sight. Ratio of emission line fluxes will be compared with models in order to derive the ionization mechanism, elec- tron temperature and density, and chemical composition of the emitting gas. The emission line properties of low luminosity will be compared with those of high luminosity objects in order to investigate the covering factor and evolutionary effects. The continumm spectrum from the UV to the IR will be used to establish the emission mechanism and the nature and luminosity of the energy source. The weak absorption lines will be used to establish the physical conditions and the chemical composition of the gas in: our Galaxy, intergalactic medium and the parent galaxy. Absorption produced by broad line clouds will give information on cloud motion and covering factor.

Tidal interaction of small satellite galaxies with spiral primaries

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Byrd, Gene G.

1988-01-01

The interaction of the disks of spiral galaxies and small companions is discussed. The gravitational drag effects of the disk on small satellites are of particular interest. Studies of the Andromeda Galaxy and its satellites, M32 and NGC 205, reveal the usefulness of few-body test-particle simulations in explaining many features of spiral galaxies and their satellites.

Ring Structure and Warp of NGC 5907: Interaction with Dwarf Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shang, Zhaohui; Zheng, Zhongyuan; Brinks, Elias; Chen, Jiansheng; Burstein, David; Su, Hongjun; Byun, Yong-ik; Deng, Licai; Deng, Zugan; Fan, Xiaohui; Jiang, Zhaoji; Li, Yong; Lin, Weipeng; Ma, Feng; Sun, Wei-hsin; Wills, Beverley; Windhorst, Rogier A.; Wu, Hong; Xia, Xiaoyang; Xu, Wen; Xue, Suijian; Yan, Haojing; Zhou, Xu; Zhu, Jin; Zou, Zhenlong

1998-09-01

The edge-on, nearby spiral galaxy NGC 5907 has long been used as the prototype of a ``noninteracting'' warped galaxy. We report here the discovery of two interactions with companion dwarf galaxies that substantially change this picture. First, a faint ring structure is discovered around this galaxy that is likely due to the tidal disruption of a companion dwarf spheroidal galaxy. The ring is elliptical in shape with the center of NGC 5907 close to one of the ring's foci. This suggests that the ring material is in orbit around NGC 5907. No gaseous component to the ring has been detected either with deep Hα images or in Very Large Array H I 21 cm line maps. The visible material in the ring has an integrated luminosity <=108 Lsolar, and its brightest part has a color R-I~0.9. All of these properties are consistent with the ring being a tidally disrupted dwarf spheroidal galaxy. Second, we find that NGC 5907 has a dwarf companion galaxy, PGC 54419, which is projected to be only 36.9 kpc from the center of NGC 5907, close in radial velocity (ΔV=45 km s-1) to the giant spiral galaxy. This dwarf is seen at the tip of the H I warp and in the direction of the warp. Hence, NGC 5907 can no longer be considered noninteracting but is obviously interacting with its dwarf companions much as the Milky Way interacts with its dwarf galaxies. These results, coupled with the finding by others that dwarf galaxies tend to be found around giant galaxies, suggest that tidal interaction with companions, even if containing a mere 1% of the mass of the parent galaxy, might be sufficient to excite the warps found in the disks of many large spiral galaxies. Partially based on observations taken with the Very Large Array of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated by a cooperative agreement with Associated Universities, Inc.

A New Method to Directly Measure the Jeans Scale of the Intergalactic Medium Using Close Quasar Pairs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rorai, Alberto; Hennawi, Joseph F.; White, Martin

2013-10-01

Although the baryons in the intergalactic medium (IGM) trace dark matter fluctuations on megaparsec scales, on smaller scales ~100 kpc, fluctuations are suppressed because the finite temperature gas is pressure supported against gravity, analogous to the classical Jeans argument. This Jeans filtering scale, which quantifies the small-scale structure of the IGM, has fundamental cosmological implications. First, it provides a thermal record of heat injected by ultraviolet photons during cosmic reionization events, and thus constrains the thermal and reionization history of the universe. Second, the Jeans scale determines the clumpiness of the IGM, a critical ingredient in models of cosmic reionization. Third, it sets the minimum mass scale for gravitational collapse from the IGM, and hence plays a pivotal role in galaxy formation. Unfortunately, it is extremely challenging to measure the Jeans scale via the standard technique of analyzing purely longitudinal Lyα forest spectra, because the thermal Doppler broadening of absorption lines along the line-of-sight, is highly degenerate with Jeans smoothing. In this work, we show that the Jeans filtering scale can be directly measured by characterizing the coherence of correlated Lyα forest absorption in close quasar pairs, with separations small enough ~100 kpc to resolve it. We present a novel technique for this purpose, based on the probability density function (PDF) of phase angle differences of homologous longitudinal Fourier modes in close quasar pair spectra. A Bayesian formalism is introduced based on the phase angle PDF, and Markov Chain Monte Carlo techniques are used to characterize the precision of a hypothetical Jeans scale measurement, and explore degeneracies with other thermal parameters governing the IGM. A semi-analytical model of the Lyα forest is used to generate a large grid (500) of thermal models from a dark matter only simulation. Our full parameter study indicates that a realistic sample of only

A NEW METHOD TO DIRECTLY MEASURE THE JEANS SCALE OF THE INTERGALACTIC MEDIUM USING CLOSE QUASAR PAIRS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rorai, Alberto; Hennawi, Joseph F.; White, Martin

2013-10-01

Although the baryons in the intergalactic medium (IGM) trace dark matter fluctuations on megaparsec scales, on smaller scales ∼100 kpc, fluctuations are suppressed because the finite temperature gas is pressure supported against gravity, analogous to the classical Jeans argument. This Jeans filtering scale, which quantifies the small-scale structure of the IGM, has fundamental cosmological implications. First, it provides a thermal record of heat injected by ultraviolet photons during cosmic reionization events, and thus constrains the thermal and reionization history of the universe. Second, the Jeans scale determines the clumpiness of the IGM, a critical ingredient in models of cosmic reionization.more » Third, it sets the minimum mass scale for gravitational collapse from the IGM, and hence plays a pivotal role in galaxy formation. Unfortunately, it is extremely challenging to measure the Jeans scale via the standard technique of analyzing purely longitudinal Lyα forest spectra, because the thermal Doppler broadening of absorption lines along the line-of-sight, is highly degenerate with Jeans smoothing. In this work, we show that the Jeans filtering scale can be directly measured by characterizing the coherence of correlated Lyα forest absorption in close quasar pairs, with separations small enough ∼100 kpc to resolve it. We present a novel technique for this purpose, based on the probability density function (PDF) of phase angle differences of homologous longitudinal Fourier modes in close quasar pair spectra. A Bayesian formalism is introduced based on the phase angle PDF, and Markov Chain Monte Carlo techniques are used to characterize the precision of a hypothetical Jeans scale measurement, and explore degeneracies with other thermal parameters governing the IGM. A semi-analytical model of the Lyα forest is used to generate a large grid (500) of thermal models from a dark matter only simulation. Our full parameter study indicates that a realistic

The H I chronicles of LITTLE THINGS blue compact dwarf galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashley, Trisha Lynn

Star formation occurs when the gas (mostly atomic hydrogen; H I) in a galaxy becomes disturbed, forming regions of high density gas, which then collapses to form stars. In dwarf galaxies it is still uncertain which processes contribute to star formation and how much they contribute to star formation. Blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies are low mass, low shear, gas rich galaxies that have high star formation rates when compared to other dwarf galaxies. What triggers the dense burst of star formation in BCDs but not other dwarfs is not well understood. It is often suggested that BCDs may have their starburst triggered by gravitational interactions with other galaxies, dwarf-dwarf galaxy mergers, or consumption of intergalactic gas. However, there are BCDs that appear isolated with respect to other galaxies, making an external disturbance unlikely. Here, I study six apparently isolated BCDs from the LITTLE THINGS sample in an attempt to understand what has triggered their burst of star formation. LITTLE THINGS is an H I survey of 41 dwarf galaxies. Each galaxy has high angular and velocity resolution H I data from the Very Large Array (VLA) telescope and ancillary stellar data. I use these data to study the detailed morphology and kinematics of each galaxy, looking for signatures of starburst triggers. In addition to the VLA data, I have collected Green Bank Telescope data for the six BCDs. These high sensitivity, low resolution data are used to search the surrounding area of each galaxy for extended emission and possible nearby companion galaxies. The VLA data show evidence that each BCD has likely experienced some form of external disturbance despite their apparent isolation. These external disturbances potentially seen in the sample include: ongoing/advanced dwarf-dwarf mergers, an interaction with an unknown external object, and external gas consumption. The GBT data result in no nearby, separate H I companions at the sensitivity of the data. These data therefore

Stellar Population Synthesis of Star-forming Clumps in Galaxy Pairs and Non-interacting Spiral Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaragoza-Cardiel, Javier; Smith, Beverly J.; Rosado, Margarita; Beckman, John E.; Bitsakis, Theodoros; Camps-Fariña, Artemi; Font, Joan; Cox, Isaiah S.

2018-02-01

We have identified 1027 star-forming complexes in a sample of 46 galaxies from the Spirals, Bridges, and Tails (SB&T) sample of interacting galaxies, and 693 star-forming complexes in a sample of 38 non-interacting spiral (NIS) galaxies in 8 μm observations from the Spitzer Infrared Array Camera. We have used archival multi-wavelength UV-to IR observations to fit the observed spectral energy distribution of our clumps with the Code Investigating GALaxy Emission using a double exponentially declined star formation history. We derive the star formation rates (SFRs), stellar masses, ages and fractions of the most recent burst, dust attenuation, and fractional emission due to an active galactic nucleus for these clumps. The resolved star formation main sequence holds on 2.5 kpc scales, although it does not hold on 1 kpc scales. We analyzed the relation between SFR, stellar mass, and age of the recent burst in the SB&T and NIS samples, and we found that the SFR per stellar mass is higher in the SB&T galaxies, and the clumps are younger in the galaxy pairs. We analyzed the SFR radial profile and found that the SFR is enhanced through the disk and in the tidal features relative to normal spirals.

IGMtransmission: Transmission curve computation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harrison, Christopher M.; Meiksin, Avery; Stock, David

2015-04-01

IGMtransmission is a Java graphical user interface that implements Monte Carlo simulations to compute the corrections to colors of high-redshift galaxies due to intergalactic attenuation based on current models of the Intergalactic Medium. The effects of absorption due to neutral hydrogen are considered, with particular attention to the stochastic effects of Lyman Limit Systems. Attenuation curves are produced, as well as colors for a wide range of filter responses and model galaxy spectra. Photometric filters are included for the Hubble Space Telescope, the Keck telescope, the Mt. Palomar 200-inch, the SUBARU telescope and UKIRT; alternative filter response curves and spectra may be readily uploaded.

The ATLAS3D project - XXVII. Cold gas and the colours and ages of early-type galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, Lisa M.; Scott, Nicholas; Serra, Paolo; Alatalo, Katherine; Bayet, Estelle; Blitz, Leo; Bois, Maxime; Bournaud, Frédéric; Bureau, Martin; Crocker, Alison F.; Cappellari, Michele; Davies, Roger L.; Davis, Timothy A.; de Zeeuw, P. T.; Duc, Pierre-Alain; Emsellem, Eric; Khochfar, Sadegh; Krajnović, Davor; Kuntschner, Harald; McDermid, Richard M.; Morganti, Raffaella; Naab, Thorsten; Oosterloo, Tom; Sarzi, Marc; Weijmans, Anne-Marie

2014-11-01

We present a study of the cold gas contents of the ATLAS3D early-type galaxies, in the context of their optical colours, near-ultraviolet colours and Hβ absorption line strengths. Early-type (elliptical and lenticular) galaxies are not as gas poor as previously thought, and at least 40 per cent of local early-type galaxies are now known to contain molecular and/or atomic gas. This cold gas offers the opportunity to study recent galaxy evolution through the processes of cold gas acquisition, consumption (star formation) and removal. Molecular and atomic gas detection rates range from 10 to 34 per cent in red sequence early-type galaxies, depending on how the red sequence is defined, and from 50 to 70 per cent in blue early-type galaxies. Notably, massive red sequence early-type galaxies (stellar masses >5 × 1010 M⊙, derived from dynamical models) are found to have H I masses up to M(H I)/M* ˜ 0.06 and H2 masses up to M(H2)/M* ˜ 0.01. Some 20 per cent of all massive early-type galaxies may have retained atomic and/or molecular gas through their transition to the red sequence. However, kinematic and metallicity signatures of external gas accretion (either from satellite galaxies or the intergalactic medium) are also common, particularly at stellar masses ≤5 × 1010 M⊙, where such signatures are found in ˜50 per cent of H2-rich early-type galaxies. Our data are thus consistent with a scenario in which fast rotator early-type galaxies are quenched former spiral galaxies which have undergone some bulge growth processes, and in addition, some of them also experience cold gas accretion which can initiate a period of modest star formation activity. We discuss implications for the interpretation of colour-magnitude diagrams.

Efficient cold outflows driven by cosmic rays in high-redshift galaxies and their global effects on the IGM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samui, Saumyadip; Subramanian, Kandaswamy; Srianand, Raghunathan

2018-05-01

We present semi-analytical models of galactic outflows in high-redshift galaxies driven by both hot thermal gas and non-thermal cosmic rays. Thermal pressure alone may not sustain a large-scale outflow in low-mass galaxies (i.e. M ˜ 108 M⊙), in the presence of supernovae feedback with large mass loading. We show that inclusion of cosmic ray pressure allows outflow solutions even in these galaxies. In massive galaxies for the same energy efficiency, cosmic ray-driven winds can propagate to larger distances compared to pure thermally driven winds. On an average gas in the cosmic ray-driven winds has a lower temperature which could aid detecting it through absorption lines in the spectra of background sources. Using our constrained semi-analytical models of galaxy formation (that explains the observed ultraviolet luminosity functions of galaxies), we study the influence of cosmic ray-driven winds on the properties of the intergalactic medium (IGM) at different redshifts. In particular, we study the volume filling factor, average metallicity, cosmic ray and magnetic field energy densities for models invoking atomic cooled and molecular cooled haloes. We show that the cosmic rays in the IGM could have enough energy that can be transferred to the thermal gas in presence of magnetic fields to influence the thermal history of the IGM. The significant volume filling and resulting strength of IGM magnetic fields can also account for recent γ-ray observations of blazars.

A dynamical proximity analysis of interacting galaxy pairs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chatterjee, Tapan K.

1990-01-01

Using the impulsive approximation to study the velocity changes of stars during disk-sphere collisions and a method due to Bottlinger to study the post collision orbits of stars, the formation of various types of interacting galaxies is studied as a function of the distance of closest approach between the two galaxies.

The Hα kinematics of interacting galaxies in 12 compact groups★

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torres-Flores, S.; Amram, P.; Mendes de Oliveira, C.; Plana, H.; Balkowski, C.; Marcelin, M.; Olave-Rojas, D.

2014-08-01

We present new Fabry-Perot observations for a sample of 42 galaxies located in 12 compact groups of galaxies: HCG 1, HCG 14, HCG 25, HCG 44, HCG 53, HCG 57, HCG 61, HCG 69, HCG 93, VV 304, LGG 455 and Arp 314. From the 42 observed galaxies, a total of 26 objects are spiral galaxies, which range from Sa to Im morphological types. The remaining 16 objects are E, S0 and S0a galaxies. Using these observations, we have derived velocity maps, monochromatic and velocity dispersion maps for 24 galaxies, where 18 are spiral, three are S0a, two are S0 and one is an Im galaxy. From the 24 velocity fields obtained, we could derive rotation curves for 15 galaxies; only two of them exhibit rotation curves without any clear signature of interactions. Based on kinematic information, we have evaluated the evolutionary stage of the different groups of the current sample. We identify groups that range from having no Hα emission to displaying an extremely complex kinematics, where their members display strongly perturbed velocity fields and rotation curves. In the case of galaxies with no Hα emission, we suggest that past galaxy interactions removed their gaseous components, thereby quenching their star formation. However, we cannot discard that the lack of Hα emission is linked with the detection limit for some of our observations.

FIREBall-2: Trailblazing observations of the space UV circumgalactic medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, Christopher

The Faint Intergalactic-medium Redshifted Emission Balloon (FIREBall-2) is designed to discover and map faint emission from the circumgalactic medium of low redshift galaxies (0.3intergalactic and circumgalactic (IGM, CGM) emission available from any instrument at the time. FIREBall-2 has been significantly upgraded compared to FB-1, and is in the final stages of integration for a September 2016 flight from Ft. Sumner, New Mexico. The spectrograph has been redesigned with a wider field of view and greater efficiency. An upgraded detector system including a groundbreaking high QE, low-noise, UV optimized CCD detector is under final dark current and noise testing and will improve instrument performance by more than an order of magnitude. CNES is providing the spectrograph, gondola, and gondola flight support team, with construction of all components complete and final alignment and testing ongoing. We propose three additional years of funding to support the FIREBall-2 team in one additional flight in 2018 to fully utilize the upgraded spectrograph. This second flight, along with the funded 2016 flight, will conduct an initial blind CGM survey of dense fields at z 0.7, conduct a targeted search of circumquasar (CQM) media for selected targets, and conduct follow up on likely tar-gets selected via GALEX and a pilot survey conducted by our group. We will also conduct a statistical search for the faint IGM via statistical stacking of our data. The FIREBall-2 team includes two female graduate students in key roles (both of whom are finishing their PhDs in 2016) and is overseen by a female Postdoctoral scholar (supported by NSF AAPF and Caltech Millikan Fellowships, in addition to a recent Roman Technology Fellowship award). Additional funding is necessary to keep this

X-Ray Scattering Echoes and Ghost Halos from the Intergalactic Medium: Relation to the Nature of AGN Variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corrales, Lia

2015-05-01

X-ray bright quasars might be used to trace dust in the circumgalactic and intergalactic medium through the phenomenon of X-ray scattering, which is observed around Galactic objects whose light passes through a sufficient column of interstellar gas and dust. Of particular interest is the abundance of gray dust larger than 0.1 μ m, which is difficult to detect at other wavelengths. To calculate X-ray scattering from large grains, one must abandon the traditional Rayleigh-Gans approximation. The Mie solution for the X-ray scattering optical depth of the universe is ∼ 1%. This presents a great difficulty for distinguishing dust scattered photons from the point source image of Chandra, which is currently unsurpassed in imaging resolution. The variable nature of AGNs offers a solution to this problem, as scattered light takes a longer path and thus experiences a time delay with respect to non-scattered light. If an AGN dims significantly (≳ 3 dex) due to a major feedback event, the Chandra point source image will be suppressed relative to the scattering halo, and an X-ray echo or ghost halo may become visible. I estimate the total number of scattering echoes visible by Chandra over the entire sky: {{N}ech}∼ {{10}3}({{ν }fb}/y{{r}-1}), where {{ν }fb} is the characteristic frequency of feedback events capable of dimming an AGN quickly.

The new model of chemical evolution of r-process elements based on the hierarchical galaxy formation. I. Ba and Eu

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Komiya, Yutaka; Suda, Takuma; Yamada, Shimako

2014-03-10

We investigate the chemical enrichment of r-process elements in the early evolutionary stages of the Milky Way halo within the framework of hierarchical galaxy formation using a semi-analytic merger tree. In this paper, we focus on heavy r-process elements, Ba and Eu, of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars and give constraints on their astronomical sites. Our models take into account changes of the surface abundances of EMP stars by the accretion of interstellar medium (ISM). We also consider metal-enrichment of intergalactic medium by galactic winds and the resultant pre-enrichment of proto-galaxies. The trend and scatter of the observed r-process abundances aremore » well reproduced by our hierarchical model with ∼10% of core-collapse supernovae in low-mass end (∼10 M {sub ☉}) as a dominant r-process source and the star formation efficiency of ∼10{sup –10} yr{sup –1}. For neutron star mergers as an r-process source, their coalescence timescale has to be ∼10{sup 7} yr, and the event rates ∼100 times larger than currently observed in the Galaxy. We find that the accretion of ISM is a dominant source of r-process elements for stars with [Ba/H] < –3.5. In this model, a majority of stars at [Fe/H] < –3 are formed without r-process elements, but their surfaces are polluted by the ISM accretion. The pre-enrichment affects ∼4% of proto-galaxies, and yet, is surpassed by the ISM accretion in the surface of EMP stars.« less

Accreting binary population synthesis and feedback prescriptions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fragos, Tassos

2016-04-01

Studies of extagalactic X-ray binary populations have shown that the characteristics of these populations depend strongly on the characteristics of the host galaxy's parent stellar population (e.g. star-formation history and metallicity). These dependencies not only make X-ray binaries promising for aiding in the measurement of galaxy properties themselves, but they also have important astrophysical and cosmological implications. For example, due to the relatively young stellar ages and primordial metallicities in the early Universe (z > 3), it is predicted that X-ray binaries were more luminous than today. The more energetic X-ray photons, because of their long mean-free paths, can escape the galaxies where they are produced, and interact at long distances with the intergalactic medium. This could result in a smoother spatial distribution of ionized regions, and more importantly in an overall warmer intergalactic medium. The energetic X-ray photons emitted from X-ray binaries dominate the X-ray radiation field over active galactic nuclei at z > 6 - 8, and hence Χ-ray binary feedback can be a non-negligible contributor to the heating and reionization of the inter-galactic medium in the early universe. The spectral energy distribution shape of the XRB emission does not change significantly with redshift, suggesting that the same XRB subpopulation, namely black-hole XRBs in the high-soft state, dominates the cumulative emission at all times. On the contrary, the normalization of the spectral energy distribution does evolve with redshift. To zeroth order, this evolution is driven by the cosmic star-formation rate evolution. However, the metallicity evolution of the universe and the mean stellar population age are two important factors that affect the X-ray emission from high-mass and low-mass XRBs, respectively. In this talk, I will review recent studies on the potential feedback from accreting binary populations in galactic and cosmological scales. Furthermore, I

Origins Space Telescope: Interstellar Medium, Milky Way, and Nearby Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Battersby, Cara; Origins Space Telescope Study Team

2017-01-01

The Origins Space Telescope (OST) is the mission concept for the Far-Infrared Surveyor, a study in development by NASA in preparation for the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey. Origins is planned to be a large aperture, actively-cooled telescope covering a wide span of the mid- to far-infrared spectrum. Its imagers and spectrographs will enable a variety of surveys of the sky that will discover and characterize the most distant galaxies, Milky-Way, exoplanets, and the outer reaches of our Solar system. Origins will enable flagship-quality general observing programs led by the astronomical community in the 2030s. The Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) would like to hear your science needs and ideas for this mission. The team can be contacted at firsurveyor_info@lists.ipac.caltech.edu.This presentation will provide a summary of the science case related to the Interstellar Medium (ISM), the Milky Way, and Nearby Galaxies. Origins will enable a comprehensive view of magnetic fields, turbulence, and the multi-phase ISM; connecting physics at all scales, from galaxies to protostellar cores. With unprecedented sensitivity, Origins will measure and characterize the mechanisms of feedback from star formation and Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) over cosmic time and trace the trail of water from interstellar clouds, to protoplanetary disks, to Earth itself in order to understand the abundance and availability of water for habitable planets.

Physical conditions of the interstellar medium in star-forming galaxies at z ˜ 1.5

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayashi, Masao; Ly, Chun; Shimasaku, Kazuhiro; Motohara, Kentaro; Malkan, Matthew A.; Nagao, Tohru; Kashikawa, Nobunari; Goto, Ryosuke; Naito, Yoshiaki

2015-10-01

We present results from Subaru Fiber Multi Object Spectrograph near-infrared spectroscopy of 118 star-forming galaxies at z ˜ 1.5 in the Subaru Deep Field. These galaxies are selected as [O II]λ3727 emitters at z ≈ 1.47 and 1.62 from narrow-band imaging. We detect the Hα emission line in 115 galaxies, the [O III]λ5007 emission line in 45 galaxies, and Hβ, [N II]λ6584, and [S II]λλ6716, 6731 in 13, 16, and 6 galaxies, respectively. Including the [O II] emission line, we use the six strong nebular emission lines in the individual and composite rest-frame optical spectra to investigate the physical conditions of the interstellar medium in star-forming galaxies at z ˜ 1.5. We find a tight correlation between Hα and [O II], which suggests that [O II] can be a good star formation rate indicator for galaxies at z ˜ 1.5. The line ratios of Hα/[O II] are consistent with those of local galaxies. We also find that [O II] emitters have strong [O III] emission lines. The [O III]/[O II] ratios are larger than normal star-forming galaxies in the local universe, suggesting a higher ionization parameter. Less massive galaxies have larger [O III]/[O II] ratios. With evidence that the electron density is consistent with local galaxies, the high ionization of galaxies at high redshifts may be attributed to a harder radiation field by a young stellar population and/or an increase in the number of ionizing photons from each massive star.

THE AGE SPREAD OF QUIESCENT GALAXIES WITH THE NEWFIRM MEDIUM-BAND SURVEY: IDENTIFICATION OF THE OLDEST GALAXIES OUT TO z {approx} 2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Whitaker, Katherine E.; Van Dokkum, Pieter G.; Brammer, Gabriel

2010-08-20

With a complete, mass-selected sample of quiescent galaxies from the NEWFIRM Medium-Band Survey, we study the stellar populations of the oldest and most massive galaxies (>10{sup 11} M{sub sun}) to high redshift. The sample includes 570 quiescent galaxies selected based on their extinction-corrected U - V colors out to z = 2.2, with accurate photometric redshifts, {sigma} {sub z}/(1 + z) {approx} 2%, and rest-frame colors, {sigma}{sub U-V} {approx} 0.06 mag. We measure an increase in the intrinsic scatter of the rest-frame U - V colors of quiescent galaxies with redshift. This scatter in color arises from the spread inmore » ages of the quiescent galaxies, where we see both relatively quiescent red, old galaxies and quiescent blue, younger galaxies toward higher redshift. The trends between color and age are consistent with the observed composite rest-frame spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of these galaxies. The composite SEDs of the reddest and bluest quiescent galaxies are fundamentally different, with remarkably well-defined 4000 A and Balmer breaks, respectively. Some of the quiescent galaxies may be up to four times older than the average age and up to the age of the universe, if the assumption of solar metallicity is correct. By matching the scatter predicted by models that include growth of the red sequence by the transformation of blue galaxies to the observed intrinsic scatter, the data indicate that most early-type galaxies formed their stars at high redshift with a burst of star formation prior to migrating to the red sequence. The observed U - V color evolution with redshift is weaker than passive evolution predicts; possible mechanisms to slow the color evolution include increasing amounts of dust in quiescent galaxies toward higher redshift, red mergers at z {approx}< 1, and a frosting of relatively young stars from star formation at later times.« less

AN EMPIRICAL DETERMINATION OF THE INTERGALACTIC BACKGROUND LIGHT FROM UV TO FIR WAVELENGTHS USING FIR DEEP GALAXY SURVEYS AND THE GAMMA-RAY OPACITY OF THE UNIVERSE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stecker, Floyd W.; Scully, Sean T.; Malkan, Matthew A., E-mail: Floyd.W.Stecker@nasa.gov, E-mail: scullyst@jmu.edu, E-mail: malkan@astro.ucla.edu

We have previously calculated the intergalactic background light (IBL) as a function of redshift from the Lyman limit in the far-ultraviolet to a wavelength of 5 μ m in the near-infrared range, based purely on data from deep galaxy surveys. Here, we use similar methods to determine the mid- and far-infrared IBL from 5 to 850 μ m. Our approach enables us to constrain the range of photon densities by determining the uncertainties in observationally determined luminosity densities and spectral gradients. By also including the effect of the 2.7 K cosmic background photons, we determine upper and lower limits onmore » the opacity of the universe to γ -rays up to PeV energies within a 68% confidence band. Our direct results on the IBL are consistent with those from complimentary γ -ray analyses using observations from the Fermi γ -ray space telescope and the H.E.S.S. air Čerenkov telescope. Thus, we find no evidence of previously suggested processes for the modification of γ -ray spectra other than that of absorption by pair production alone.« less

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF KNOTS OF STAR FORMATION IN INTERACTING VERSUS SPIRAL GALAXIES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Smith, Beverly J.; Olmsted, Susan; Jones, Keith

2016-03-15

Interacting galaxies are known to have higher global rates of star formation on average than normal galaxies, relative to their stellar masses. Using UV and IR photometry combined with new and published Hα images, we have compared the star formation rates (SFRs) of ∼700 star forming complexes in 46 nearby interacting galaxy pairs with those of regions in 39 normal spiral galaxies. The interacting galaxies have proportionally more regions with high SFRs than the spirals. The most extreme regions in the interacting systems lie at the intersections of spiral/tidal structures, where gas is expected to pile up and trigger starmore » formation. Published Hubble Space Telescope images show unusually large and luminous star clusters in the highest luminosity regions. The SFRs of the clumps correlate with measures of the dust attenuation, consistent with the idea that regions with more interstellar gas have more star formation. For the clumps with the highest SFRs, the apparent dust attenuation is consistent with the Calzetti starburst dust attenuation law. This suggests that the high luminosity regions are dominated by a central group of young stars surrounded by a shell of clumpy interstellar gas. In contrast, the lower luminosity clumps are bright in the UV relative to Hα, suggesting either a high differential attenuation between the ionized gas and the stars, or a post-starburst population bright in the UV but faded in Hα. The fraction of the global light of the galaxies in the clumps is higher on average for the interacting galaxies than for the spirals. Thus either star formation in interacting galaxies is “clumpier” on average, or the star forming regions in interacting galaxies are more luminous, dustier, or younger on average.« less

Ultrafaint dwarfs—star formation and chemical evolution in the smallest galaxies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Webster, David; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss; Sutherland, Ralph, E-mail: d.webster@physics.usyd.edu.au

2014-11-20

In earlier work, we showed that a dark matter halo with a virial mass of 10{sup 7} M {sub ☉} can retain a major part of its baryons in the face of the pre-ionization phase and supernova (SN) explosion from a 25 M {sub ☉} star. Here, we expand on the results of that work, investigating the star formation and chemical evolution of the system beyond the first SN. In a galaxy with a mass M {sub vir} = 10{sup 7} M {sub ☉}, sufficient gas is retained by the potential for a second period of star formation to occur.more » The impact of a central explosion is found to be much stronger than that of an off-center explosion both in blowing out the gas and in enriching it, as in the off-center case most of the SN energy and metals escape into the intergalactic medium. We model the star formation and metallicity, given the assumption that stars form for 100, 200, 400, and 600 Myr, and discuss the results in the context of recent observations of very low-mass galaxies. We show that we can account for most features of the observed relationship between [α/Fe] and [Fe/H] in ultra-faint dwarf galaxies with the assumption that the systems formed at a low mass, rather than being remnants of much larger systems.« less

No sign (yet) of intergalactic globular clusters in the Local Group

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mackey, A. D.; Beasley, M. A.; Leaman, R.

2016-07-01

We present Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) imaging of 12 candidate intergalactic globular clusters (IGCs) in the Local Group, identified in a recent survey of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) footprint by di Tullio Zinn & Zinn. Our image quality is sufficiently high, at ˜0.4-0.7 arcsec, that we are able to unambiguously classify all 12 targets as distant galaxies. To reinforce this conclusion we use GMOS images of globular clusters in the M31 halo, taken under very similar conditions, to show that any genuine clusters in the putative IGC sample would be straightforward to distinguish. Based on the stated sensitivity of the di Tullio Zinn & Zinn search algorithm, we conclude that there cannot be a significant number of IGCs with MV ≤ -6 lying unseen in the SDSS area if their properties mirror those of globular clusters in the outskirts of M31 - even a population of 4 would have only a ≈1 per cent chance of non-detection.

Photometric Signatures of Starbursts in Interacting Galaxies and the Butcher-Oemler Effect

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rakos, Karl D.; Maindl, Thomas I.; Schombert, James M.

1996-01-01

This paper presents new and synthetic narrow band photometry of ellipticals, spirals, Seyferts and interacting galaxies in an attempt to identify the cause of the unusually high fraction of blue cluster galaxies in distant clusters (the Butcher-Oemler Effect). The properties and distribution of the low redshift sample specifically points to starbursts as the origin of the blue narrow band colors in interacting Arp galaxies.

Studying the large scale structure and interstellar medium of galaxies during the epochs of peak cosmic star formation and Reionization with infrared fine structure lines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uzgil, Bade D.

Infrared (IR) fine-structure (FS) lines from trace metals in the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies are valuable diagnostics of the physical conditions in a broad range of astrophysical environments, such gas irradiated by stellar far-ultraviolet (FUV) photons or X-rays from accreting supermassive black holes, called active galactic nuclei (AGN). The transparency of these lines to dust and their high escape fractions into the intergalactic medium (IGM) render them as useful probes to study the epochs of peak cosmic star formation (SF) and Reionization. Chapter 1 of this thesis is a study of the ISM of the Cloverleaf quasar. Observations of IR FS lines from singly ionized carbon and neutral oxygen have allowed us to assess the physical conditions---parametrized by their gas density and the impingent FUV flux---prevalent in atomic gas heated by stellar FUV photons. We find that UV heating from local SF is not sufficient to explain the measured FS and molecular luminosities, and suggest that X-ray heating from the AGN is required to simultaneously explain both sets of data. The general picture of the Cloverleaf ISM that emerges from our composite model is one where the [CII] and [OI]63 line emission is produced primarily within PDRs and HII regions of a 1.3-kpc wide starburst, which is embedded in a denser XDR component that is the dominant source of heating for the CO gas. The fact that the star-forming PDR and HII region gas is co-spatial with the XDR---and within ˜ 650 pc of the accreting black hole---provides strong evidence that SF is ongoing while immersed in a strong X-ray radiation field provided by the nearby AGN. This finding has implications for the co-evolution of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. The work in this chapter will be submitted for first-author publication imminently. In Chapter 2, we explore the possibility of studying the redshifted far-IR fine-structure line emission using the three-dimensional (3-D) power spectra

Stars and gas in the very large interacting galaxy NGC 6872

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horellou, C.; Koribalski, B.

2007-03-01

The dynamical evolution of the large (>100 kpc), barred spiral galaxy NGC 6872 and its small companion IC 4970 in the southern group Pavo is investigated. We present N-body simulations with stars and gas and 21 cm Hi observations carried out with the Australia Telescope Compact Array of the large-scale distribution and kinematics of atomic gas. Hi is detected toward the companion, corresponding to a gas mass of ~ 1.3× 10^9~ M_⊙. NGC 6872 contains ˜ 1.4× 1010~ M_⊙ of Hi gas, distributed in an extended rotating disk. Massive concentrations of gas (˜ 10^9~ M_⊙) are found at the tip of both tidal tails and towards the break seen in the optical northern arm near the companion. We detect no Hi counterpart to the X-ray trail between NGC 6872 and NGC 6876, the dominant elliptical galaxy in the Pavo group located ˜ 8' to the southeast. At the sensitivity and the resolution of the observations, there is no sign in the overall Hi distribution that NGC 6876 has affected the evolution of NGC 6872. There is no evidence of ram pressure stripping either. The X-ray trail could be due to gravitational focusing of the hot gas in the Pavo group behind NGC 6872 as the galaxy moves supersonically through the hot medium. The simulations of a gravitational interaction with a small nearby companion on a low-inclination prograde passage are able to reproduce most of the observed features of NGC 6872, including the general morphology of the galaxy, the inner bar, the extent of the tidal tails and the thinness of the southern tail.

Origins Space Telescope: Nearby Galaxies, the Milky Way, and the Interstellar Medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Battersby, Cara; Sandstrom, Karin; Origins Space Telescope Science and Technology Definition Team

2018-01-01

The Origins Space Telescope (OST) is the mission concept for the Far-Infrared Surveyor, one of the four science and technology definition studies of NASA Headquarters for the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal survey. Origins will enable flagship-quality general observing programs led by the astronomical community in the 2030s. We welcome you to contact the Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) with your science needs and ideas by emailing us at ost_info@lists.ipac.caltech.eduThis presentation will summarize the science case related to Nearby Galaxies, the Milky Way, and the Interstellar Medium (Interstellar Medium). The Origins Space Telescope will enable a wealth of unprecedented scientific advances in this area, both those we know to expect, and the discovery space that lies unexplored. Origins will enable a comprehensive view of magnetic fields, turbulence, and the multiphase ISM; connecting these physics across scales of galaxies to protostellar cores. With unprecedented sensitivity, Origins will measure and characterize the mechanisms of feedback from star formation and Active Galactic Nuclei, and their interplay, over cosmic time. Origins will unveil the abundance and availability of water for habitable planets by allowing us to trace the trail of water from interstellar clouds to protoplanetary disks, to Earth itself.

Young stellar clumps in the interacting system Arp 305

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zasov, Anatoly V.; Saburova, Anna S.; Egorov, Oleg V.; Afanasiev, Viktor L.

2018-07-01

We present the results from optical long-slit spectral observations of the interacting system Arp 305 that were carried out at the 6-m Big Telescope Alt-azimuth (BTA) at the Special Astrophysical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences. We look at the radial variation of gas kinematics and oxygen abundance. This study continues the series of spectral observations of tidal debris in interacting galaxies. Here we pay special attention to the star-forming region between the interacting galaxies - a tidal dwarf galaxy (TDG) candidate. This star-forming system appears to be gravitationally bound, or close to this condition. We show that the TDG is metal-poor in comparison to the parental galaxy. This can indicate that either the origin of the TDG's star-forming gas was very far from the centre of the parent galaxy or its gas has been diluted by the accretion of metal-poor intergalactic gas. Nevertheless, the region of the brightest emission clump in the TDG, where current star formation takes place, reveals a noticeable colour excess, which might indicate a local gas concentration. We note that the TDG is situated in the region where two gas flows intersect and that it is in a process of formation probably caused by the collision of these flows. The small difference in the velocity of the TDG, NGC 4017 and the gaseous bridge between them indicates that the lifetime of the TDG is restricted by the time of its fall back on to the parent galaxy.

Evolutional schemes for objects with active nuclei

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Komberg, B. V.

1979-01-01

The observational properties of quasistellar objects (QSO) reveal that they are extremely violent nuclei of distant galaxies, but the evolutionary stage of these galaxies is still undetermined. Various published attempts to classify QSO under different criteria - including the one based on the morphological type of the surrounding galaxy E- or S- are analyzed. There are evidences that radioactive quasars reside in E-, while radio-quiet quasars reside in both E- and S- systems. The latter may be evolutionary connected to Seyfert-like objects. A correlation between the nuclei activity level in systems of different morphological type and the relative amount of gas in them is noted. From the point of view of activity level and the duration of active stage of nuclei it is concluded that an interaction of galaxies with the intergalactic medium is of particular importance and must be most conspicuous in spheriodal systems of central regions of rich clusters, in tight groups and binary galaxies.

Metallicity of Young and Old Stars in Irregular Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tikhonov, N. A.

2018-01-01

Based on archived images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope, stellar photometry for 105 irregular galaxies has been conducted. We have shown the red supergiant and giant branches in the obtained Hertzsprung-Russel diagrams. Using the TRGB method, distances to galaxies and metallicity of red giants have been determined. The color index ( V - I) of the supergiant branch at the luminosity level M I = -7 was chosen as the metallicity index of red supergiants. For the galaxies under study, the diagrams have been built, in which the correlation can be seen between the luminosity of galaxies ( M B ) and metallicity of red giants and supergiants. The main source of variance of the results in the obtained diagrams is, in our opinion, uncertainty inmeasurements of galaxy luminosities and star-forming outburst. The relation between metallicity of young and old stars shows that main enrichment of galaxies with metals has taken place in the remote past. Deviations of some galaxies in the obtained relation can possibly be explained with the fall of the intergalactic gas on them, although, this inconsiderably affects metallicities of the stellar content.

Baryon Budget of the Hot Circumgalactic Medium of Massive Spiral Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jiang-Tao; Bregman, Joel N.; Wang, Q. Daniel; Crain, Robert A.; Anderson, Michael E.

2018-03-01

The baryon content around local galaxies is observed to be much less than is needed in Big Bang nucleosynthesis. Simulations indicate that a significant fraction of these “missing baryons” may be stored in a hot tenuous circumgalactic medium (CGM) around massive galaxies extending to or even beyond the virial radius of their dark matter halos. Previous observations in X-ray and Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) signals claimed that ∼(1–50)% of the expected baryons are stored in a hot CGM within the virial radius. The large scatter is mainly caused by the very uncertain extrapolation of the hot gas density profile based on the detection in a small radial range (typically within 10%–20% of the virial radius). Here, we report stacking X-ray observations of six local isolated massive spiral galaxies from the CGM-MASS sample. We find that the mean density profile can be characterized by a single power law out to a galactocentric radius of ≈200 kpc (or ≈130 kpc above the 1σ background uncertainty), about half the virial radius of the dark matter halo. We can now estimate that the hot CGM within the virial radius accounts for (8 ± 4)% of the baryonic mass expected for the halos. Including the stars, the baryon fraction is (27 ± 16)%, or (39 ± 20)% by assuming a flattened density profile at r ≳ 130 kpc. We conclude that the hot baryons within the virial radius of massive galaxy halos are insufficient to explain the “missing baryons.”

A Foreground Masking Strategy for [C II] Intensity Mapping Experiments Using Galaxies Selected by Stellar Mass and Redshift

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, G.; Moncelsi, L.; Viero, M. P.; Silva, M. B.; Bock, J.; Bradford, C. M.; Chang, T.-C.; Cheng, Y.-T.; Cooray, A. R.; Crites, A.; Hailey-Dunsheath, S.; Uzgil, B.; Hunacek, J. R.; Zemcov, M.

2018-04-01

Intensity mapping provides a unique means to probe the epoch of reionization (EoR), when the neutral intergalactic medium was ionized by energetic photons emitted from the first galaxies. The [C II] 158 μm fine-structure line is typically one of the brightest emission lines of star-forming galaxies and thus a promising tracer of the global EoR star formation activity. However, [C II] intensity maps at 6 ≲ z ≲ 8 are contaminated by interloping CO rotational line emission (3 ≤ J upp ≤ 6) from lower-redshift galaxies. Here we present a strategy to remove the foreground contamination in upcoming [C II] intensity mapping experiments, guided by a model of CO emission from foreground galaxies. The model is based on empirical measurements of the mean and scatter of the total infrared luminosities of galaxies at z < 3 and with stellar masses {M}* > {10}8 {M}ȯ selected in the K-band from the COSMOS/UltraVISTA survey, which can be converted to CO line strengths. For a mock field of the Tomographic Ionized-carbon Mapping Experiment, we find that masking out the “voxels” (spectral–spatial elements) containing foreground galaxies identified using an optimized CO flux threshold results in a z-dependent criterion {m}{{K}}AB}≲ 22 (or {M}* ≳ {10}9 {M}ȯ ) at z < 1 and makes a [C II]/COtot power ratio of ≳10 at k = 0.1 h/Mpc achievable, at the cost of a moderate ≲8% loss of total survey volume.

A Search for Lyα Emission from Galaxies AT 6 < z < 8 Using Deep HST Grism Observations: Discovery of a z = 7.5 Galaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larson, Rebecca L.; Finkelstein, Steven; Pirzkal, Nor; Ryan, Russell; Tilvi, Vithal; Malhotra, Sangeeta; Rhoads, James; Finkelstein, Keely; Jung, Intae; Christensen, Lise; Cimatti, Andrea; Ferreras, Ignacio; Grogin, Norman; Koekemoer, Anton; Hathi, Nimish; O'Connell, Robert; Östlin, Göran; Pasquali, Anna; Rothberg, Barry; Windhorst, Rogier; FIGS Team

2018-01-01

We have built an automated detection method to find Lyα emission lines in HST grism data from 6 < z < 8 galaxies in order to spectroscopically confirm their redshifts and to probe the ionization state of the intergalactic medium (IGM) during the epoch of reionization. We use 160 orbits of G102 slitless spectroscopy obtained from HST/WFC3 for the Faint Infrared Grism Survey (FIGS; PI: Malhotra) that were optimized to sample previously-identified high-redshift galaxy candidates. This dataset has already been used to identify one of these candidates, at redshift z = 7.51, which has been observed to have Lyα emission detectable with the HST Grism (Finkelstein et al. 2013; Tilvi et al. 2016). The FIGS data use five separate roll-angles of HST in an effort to mitigate the overall contamination effects of nearby galaxies and we have created a method that accounts for and removes the contamination from surrounding galaxies, while also removing any dispersed continuum light from each individual spectrum (Pirzkal et al. 2017). Using our new automated process we searched for significant (> 3σ) emission lines via two different methods. First, we compared the results for each galaxy across all roll angles and identified significant lines detected in more than one roll angle. Second, we performed a fit to all five roll angles simultaneously, accounting for the total flux of the emission line across all of our spectra. We have examined the spectra for 64 z > 7 candidates in our sample and found one new candidate Lyα emission line at a (> 5σ) level at 1.03µm (FIGS ID: GS2 1406 also named CANDELS ID: z7 PAR2 2909). After comparing this emission line with the broadband photometric colors, we conclude that this line is Lyα at z = 7.542 ± 0.003. This galaxy has the highest Lyα rest-frame equivalent width (EWLyα) yet published at z > 7 (110 ± 14 A).

Ultrahigh-energy Cosmic Rays from Fanaroff Riley class II radio galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rachen, Joerg; Biermann, Peter L.

1992-08-01

The hot spots of very powerful radio galaxies (Fanaroff Riley class II) are argued to be the sources of the ultrahigh energy component in Cosmic Rays. We present calculations of Cosmic Ray transport in an evolving universe, taking the losses against the microwave background properly into account. As input we use the models for the cosmological radio source evolution derived by radioastronomers (mainly Peacock 1985). The model we adopt for the acceleration in the radio hot spots has been introduced by Biermann and Strittmatter (1987), and Meisenheimer et al. (1989) and is based on first order Fermi theory of particle acceleration at shocks (see, e.g., Drury 1983). As an unknown the actual proportion of energy density in protons enters, which together with structural uncertainties in the hot spots should introduce no more than one order of magnitude in uncertainty: We easily reproduce the observed spectra of high energy cosmic rays. It follows that scattering of charged energetic particles in intergalactic space must be sufficiently small in order to obtain contributions from sources as far away as even the nearest Fanaroff Riley class II radio galaxies. This implies a strong constraint on the turbulent magnetic field in intergalactic space.

Galaxies Probing Galaxies in PRIMUS. I. Sample, Spectroscopy, and Characteristics of the z\\sim 0.5 Mg II–absorbing Circumgalactic Medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rubin, Kate H. R.; Diamond-Stanic, Aleksandar M.; Coil, Alison L.; Crighton, Neil H. M.; Moustakas, John

2018-01-01

The spectroscopy of background QSO sightlines passing close to foreground galaxies is a potent technique for studying the circumgalactic medium (CGM). However, QSOs are effectively point sources, limiting their potential to constrain the size of circumgalactic gaseous structures. Here we present the first large Keck/Low-resolution Imaging Spectrometer (LRIS) and Very Large Telescope (VLT)/Focal Reducer/Low-dispersion Spectrograph 2 (FORS2) spectroscopic survey of bright ({B}{AB}< 22.3) background galaxies whose lines of sight probe Mg II λ λ 2796,2803 absorption from the CGM around close projected foreground galaxies at transverse distances 10 {kpc}< {R}\\perp < 150 {kpc}. Our sample of 72 projected pairs, drawn from the PRIsm MUlti-object Survey, includes 48 background galaxies that do not host bright active galactic nuclei, and both star-forming and quiescent foreground galaxies with stellar masses of 9.0< {log}{M}* /{M}ȯ < 11.2 at redshifts of 0.35< {z}{{f}/{{g}}}< 0.8. We detect Mg II absorption associated with these foreground galaxies with equivalent widths of 0.25 \\mathring{{A}} < {W}2796< 2.6 \\mathring{{A}} at > 2σ significance in 20 individual background sightlines passing within {R}\\perp < 50 {kpc} and place 2σ upper limits on W 2796 of ≲ 0.5 \\mathring{{A}} in an additional 11 close sightlines. Within {R}\\perp < 50 {kpc}, W 2796 is anticorrelated with R ⊥, consistent with analyses of Mg II absorption detected along background QSO sightlines. Subsamples of these foreground hosts divided at {log}{M}* /{M}ȯ =9.9 exhibit statistically inconsistent W 2796 distributions at 30 {kpc}< {R}\\perp < 50 {kpc}, with the higher-M * galaxies yielding a larger median W 2796 by 0.9 \\mathring{{A}} . Finally, we demonstrate that foreground galaxies with similar stellar masses exhibit the same median W 2796 at a given R ⊥ to within < 0.2 \\mathring{{A}} toward both background galaxies and toward QSO sightlines drawn from the literature. Analysis of these

UNDERSTANDING THE STRUCTURE OF THE HOT INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM IN NORMAL EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Traynor, Liam; Kim, Dong-Woo; Chandra Galaxy Atlas

2018-01-01

The hot interstellar medium (ISM) of early-type galaxies (ETG's) provides crucial insight into the understanding of their formation and evolution. Mechanisms such as type Ia supernovae heating, AGN feedback, deepening potential depth through dark matter assembly and ramp-pressure stripping are known to affect the structure of the ISM. By using temperature maps and radial temperature profiles of the hot ISM from ~70 ETG's with archival Chandra data, it is possible to classify the galaxy's ISM into common structural types. This is extended by using 3D fitting of the radial temperature profile in order to provide models that further constrain the structural types. Five structural types are present, negative (temperature decreases with radii), positive (temperature increases with radii), hybrid-dip (temperature decreases at small radii and increases at large radii), hybrid-bump (inverse of hybrid-dip) and quasi-isothermal (temperature is constant at all radii). This work will be continued by 1) determining which mechanisms are present in which galaxies and 2) analysing the model parameters between galaxies within each structural type to determine whether each type can be described by a single set of model parameters, indicating that the same physical processes are responsible for creating that structural type.

THE HALO MASS FUNCTION CONDITIONED ON DENSITY FROM THE MILLENNIUM SIMULATION: INSIGHTS INTO MISSING BARYONS AND GALAXY MASS FUNCTIONS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Faltenbacher, A.; Finoguenov, A.; Drory, N.

2010-03-20

The baryon content of high-density regions in the universe is relevant to two critical unanswered questions: the workings of nurture effects on galaxies and the whereabouts of the missing baryons. In this paper, we analyze the distribution of dark matter and semianalytical galaxies in the Millennium Simulation to investigate these problems. Applying the same density field reconstruction schemes as used for the overall matter distribution to the matter locked in halos, we study the mass contribution of halos to the total mass budget at various background field densities, i.e., the conditional halo mass function. In this context, we present amore » simple fitting formula for the cumulative mass function accurate to {approx}<5% for halo masses between 10{sup 10} and 10{sup 15} h {sup -1} M{sub sun}. We find that in dense environments the halo mass function becomes top heavy and present corresponding fitting formulae for different redshifts. We demonstrate that the major fraction of matter in high-density fields is associated with galaxy groups. Since current X-ray surveys are able to nearly recover the universal baryon fraction within groups, our results indicate that the major part of the so-far undetected warm-hot intergalactic medium resides in low-density regions. Similarly, we show that the differences in galaxy mass functions with environment seen in observed and simulated data stem predominantly from differences in the mass distribution of halos. In particular, the hump in the galaxy mass function is associated with the central group galaxies, and the bimodality observed in the galaxy mass function is therefore interpreted as that of central galaxies versus satellites.« less

Warm-hot gas in X-ray bright galaxy clusters and the H I-deficient circumgalactic medium in dense environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burchett, Joseph N.; Tripp, Todd M.; Wang, Q. Daniel; Willmer, Christopher N. A.; Bowen, David V.; Jenkins, Edward B.

2018-04-01

We analyse the intracluster medium (ICM) and circumgalactic medium (CGM) in seven X-ray-detected galaxy clusters using spectra of background quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) (HST-COS/STIS), optical spectroscopy of the cluster galaxies (MMT/Hectospec and SDSS), and X-ray imaging/spectroscopy (XMM-Newton and Chandra). First, we report a very low covering fraction of H I absorption in the CGM of these cluster galaxies, f_c = 25^{+25}_{-15} {per cent}, to stringent detection limits (N(H I) <1013 cm-2). As field galaxies have an H I covering fraction of ˜ 100 per cent at similar radii, the dearth of CGM H I in our data indicates that the cluster environment has effectively stripped or overionized the gaseous haloes of these cluster galaxies. Secondly, we assess the contribution of warm-hot (105-106 K) gas to the ICM as traced by O VI and broad Ly α (BLA) absorption. Despite the high signal-to-noise ratio of our data, we do not detect O VI in any cluster, and we only detect BLA features in the QSO spectrum probing one cluster. We estimate that the total column density of warm-hot gas along this line of sight totals to ˜ 3 per cent of that contained in the hot T > 107 K X-ray emitting phase. Residing at high relative velocities, these features may trace pre-shocked material outside the cluster. Comparing gaseous galaxy haloes from the low-density `field' to galaxy groups and high-density clusters, we find that the CGM is progressively depleted of H I with increasing environmental density, and the CGM is most severely transformed in galaxy clusters. This CGM transformation may play a key role in environmental galaxy quenching.

Impact of ultraluminous X-ray sources on photoabsorption in the first galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sazonov, S.; Khabibullin, I.

2018-05-01

In the local Universe, integrated X-ray emission from high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) is dominated by the brightest ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with luminosity ≳1040 erg s-1. Such rare objects probably also dominated the production of X-rays in the early Universe. We demonstrate that a ULX with LX ˜ 1040-1041 erg s-1 (isotropic-equivalent luminosity in the 0.1-10 keV energy band) shining for ˜105 yr (the expected duration of a supercritically accreting phase in HMXBs) can significantly ionize the ISM in its host dwarf galaxy of total mass M ˜ 107-108 M⊙ and thereby reduce its opacity to soft X-rays. As a result, the fraction of the soft X-ray (below 1 keV) radiation from the ULX escaping into the intergalactic medium (IGM) can increase from ˜20-50 per cent to ˜30-80 per cent over its lifetime. This implies that HMXBs can induce a stronger heating of the IGM at z ≳ 10 compared to estimates neglecting the ULX feedback on the ISM. However, larger galaxies with M ≳ 3 × 108 M⊙ could not be significantly ionized even by the brightest ULXs in the early Universe. Since such galaxies probably started to dominate the global star formation rate at z ≲ 10, the overall escape fraction of soft X-rays from the HMXB population probably remained low, ≲30 per cent, at these epochs.

The universe at moderate redshift

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ostriker, Jeremiah P.

1992-01-01

The Final Report on the universe at moderate redshift covering the period from 1 Mar. 1988 to 28 Feb. 1991 is presented. Areas of research included: galaxy formation and large-scale structure; intergalactic medium and background radiation fields; quasar statistics and evolution; and gravitational lenses.

A simulation of the intracluster medium with feedback from cluster galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Metzler, Christopher A.; Evrard, August E.

1994-01-01

We detail method and report first results from a three-dimensional hydrodynamical and N-body simulation of the formation and evolution of a Coma-sized cluster of galaxies, with the intent of studying the history of the hot, X-ray emitting intracluster medium. Cluster gas, galaxies, and dark matter are included in the model. The galaxies and dark matter fell gravitational forces; the cluster gas also undergoes hydrodynamical effects such as shock heating and PdV work. For the first time in three dimensions, we include modeling of ejection of processed gas from the simulated galaxies by winds, including heating and heavy element enrichment. For comparison, we employ a `pure infall' simulation using the same initial conditions but with no galaxies or winds. We employ an extreme ejection history for galactic feedback in order to define the boundary of likely models. As expected, feedback raises the entropy of the intracluster gas, preventing it from collapsing to densities as high as those attained in the infall model. The effect is more pronounced in subclusters formed at high redshift. The cluster with feedback is always less X-ray luminous, but experiences more rapid luminosity evolution, than the pure infall cluster. Even employing an extreme ejection model, the final gas temperature is only approximately 15% larger than in the infall model. The radial temperature profile is very nearly isothermal within 1.5 Mpc. The cluster galaxies in the feedback model have a velocity dispersion approximately 15% lower than the dark matter. This results in the true ratio of specific energies in galaxies to gas being less than one, beta(sub spec) approximately 0.7. The infall model predicts beta(sub spec) approximately 1.2. Large excursions in these values occur over time, following the complex dynamical history of the cluster. The morphology of the X-ray emission is little affected by feedback. The emission profiles of both clusters are well described by the standard beta

STAR FORMATION IN DWARF GALAXIES OF THE NEARBY CENTAURUS A GROUP

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cote, Stephanie; Draginda, Adam; Skillman, Evan D.

2009-10-15

We present H{alpha} narrow-band imaging of 17 dwarf irregular (dI) galaxies in the nearby Centaurus A Group. Although all large galaxies of the group are or recently have been through a period of enhanced star formation, the dIs have normal star formation rates (SFRs) and do not contain a larger fraction of dwarf starbursts than other nearby groups such as the Sculptor Group or the Local Group. Most of the galaxies in the group now have fairly accurately known distances, which enables us to obtain relative distances between dIs and larger galaxies of the group. We find that the dImore » SFRs do not depend on local environment, and in particular they do not show any correlation with the distance of the dI to the nearest large galaxy of the group. There is a clear morphology-density relation in the Centaurus A Group, similar to the Sculptor Group and Local Group, in the sense that dwarf ellipticals (dEs)/dwarf spheroidals (dSphs) tend to be at small distances from the more massive galaxies of the group, while dIs are on average at larger distances. We find four transition dwarfs in the Group, dwarfs that show characteristics of both dE/dSphs and dIs, and which contain cold gas but no current star formation. Interestingly, the transition dwarfs have an average distance to the more massive galaxies, which is intermediate between those of the dEs/dSphs and dIs and which is quite large: 0.54 {+-} 0.31 Mpc. This large distance poses some difficulty for the most popular scenarios proposed for transforming a dI into a dE/dSph (ram-pressure with tidal stripping or galaxy harassment). If the observed transition dwarfs are indeed missing links between dIs and dE/dSphs, their relative isolation makes it less likely to have been produced by these mechanisms. An inhomogeneous intergalactic medium containing higher density clumps would be able to ram-pressure strip the dIs at larger distances from the more massive galaxies of the group.« less

On the amplification of magnetic fields in cosmic filaments and galaxy clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vazza, F.; Brüggen, M.; Gheller, C.; Wang, P.

2014-12-01

The amplification of primordial magnetic fields via a small-scale turbulent dynamo during structure formation might be able to explain the observed magnetic fields in galaxy clusters. The magnetization of more tenuous large-scale structures such as cosmic filaments is more uncertain, as it is challenging for numerical simulations to achieve the required dynamical range. In this work, we present magnetohydrodynamical cosmological simulations on large uniform grids to study the amplification of primordial seed fields in the intracluster medium (ICM) and in the warm-hot-intergalactic medium (WHIM). In the ICM, we confirm that turbulence caused by structure formation can produce a significant dynamo amplification, even if the amplification is smaller than what is reported in other papers. In the WHIM inside filaments, we do not observe significant dynamo amplification, even though we achieve Reynolds numbers of Re ˜ 200-300. The maximal amplification for large filaments is of the order of ˜100 for the magnetic energy, corresponding to a typical field of a few ˜nG starting from a primordial weak field of 10-10 G (comoving). In order to start a small-scale dynamo, we found that a minimum of ˜102 resolution elements across the virial radius of galaxy clusters was necessary. In filaments we could not find a minimum resolution to set off a dynamo. This stems from the inefficiency of supersonic motions in the WHIM in triggering solenoidal modes and small-scale twisting of magnetic field structures. Magnetic fields this small will make it hard to detect filaments in radio observations.

An HST/COS Survey of the Low-redshift Intergalactic Medium. I. Survey, Methodology, and Overall Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Danforth, Charles W.; Keeney, Brian A.; Tilton, Evan M.; Shull, J. Michael; Stocke, John T.; Stevans, Matthew; Pieri, Matthew M.; Savage, Blair D.; France, Kevin; Syphers, David; Smith, Britton D.; Green, James C.; Froning, Cynthia; Penton, Steven V.; Osterman, Steven N.

2016-02-01

We use high-quality, medium-resolution Hubble Space Telescope/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (HST/COS) observations of 82 UV-bright active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at redshifts zAGN < 0.85 to construct the largest survey of the low-redshift intergalactic medium (IGM) to date: 5138 individual extragalactic absorption lines in H I and 25 different metal-ion species grouped into 2611 distinct redshift systems at zabs < 0.75 covering total redshift pathlengths ΔzH I = 21.7 and ΔzO VI = 14.5. Our semi-automated line-finding and measurement technique renders the catalog as objectively defined as possible. The cumulative column density distribution of H I systems can be parametrized d{ N }(\\gt N)/{dz} = {C}14{(N/{10}14{{cm}}-2)}-(β -1), with C14 = 25 ± 1 and β = 1.65 ± 0.02. This distribution is seen to evolve both in amplitude, {C}14\\propto {(1+z)}2.3+/- 0.1, and slope β(z) = 1.75-0.31 z for z ≤ 0.47. We observe metal lines in 418 systems, and find that the fraction of IGM absorbers detected in metals is strongly dependent on {N}{{H}{{I}}}. The distribution of O VI absorbers appears to evolve in the same sense as the Lyα forest. We calculate contributions to Ωb from different components of the low-z IGM and determine the Lyα decrement as a function of redshift. IGM absorbers are analyzed via a two-point correlation function in velocity space. We find substantial clustering of H I absorbers on scales of Δv = 50-300 km s-1 with no significant clustering at Δv ≳ 1000 km s-1. Splitting the sample into strong and weak absorbers, we see that most of the clustering occurs in strong, NH I ≳ 1013.5 cm-2, metal-bearing IGM systems. The full catalog of absorption lines and fully reduced spectra is available via the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) as a high-level science product at http://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/igm/. Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained from the data archive at the Space Telescope Science

Supernova-driven outflows and chemical evolution of dwarf spheroidal galaxies

PubMed Central

Qian, Yong-Zhong; Wasserburg, G. J.

2012-01-01

We present a general phenomenological model for the metallicity distribution (MD) in terms of [Fe/H] for dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs). These galaxies appear to have stopped accreting gas from the intergalactic medium and are fossilized systems with their stars undergoing slow internal evolution. For a wide variety of infall histories of unprocessed baryonic matter to feed star formation, most of the observed MDs can be well described by our model. The key requirement is that the fraction of the gas mass lost by supernova-driven outflows is close to unity. This model also predicts a relationship between the total stellar mass and the mean metallicity for dSphs in accord with properties of their dark matter halos. The model further predicts as a natural consequence that the abundance ratios [E/Fe] for elements such as O, Mg, and Si decrease for stellar populations at the higher end of the [Fe/H] range in a dSph. We show that, for infall rates far below the net rate of gas loss to star formation and outflows, the MD in our model is very sharply peaked at one [Fe/H] value, similar to what is observed in most globular clusters. This result suggests that globular clusters may be end members of the same family as dSphs. PMID:22411827

Supernova-driven outflows and chemical evolution of dwarf spheroidal galaxies.

PubMed

Qian, Yong-Zhong; Wasserburg, G J

2012-03-27

We present a general phenomenological model for the metallicity distribution (MD) in terms of [Fe/H] for dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs). These galaxies appear to have stopped accreting gas from the intergalactic medium and are fossilized systems with their stars undergoing slow internal evolution. For a wide variety of infall histories of unprocessed baryonic matter to feed star formation, most of the observed MDs can be well described by our model. The key requirement is that the fraction of the gas mass lost by supernova-driven outflows is close to unity. This model also predicts a relationship between the total stellar mass and the mean metallicity for dSphs in accord with properties of their dark matter halos. The model further predicts as a natural consequence that the abundance ratios [E/Fe] for elements such as O, Mg, and Si decrease for stellar populations at the higher end of the [Fe/H] range in a dSph. We show that, for infall rates far below the net rate of gas loss to star formation and outflows, the MD in our model is very sharply peaked at one [Fe/H] value, similar to what is observed in most globular clusters. This result suggests that globular clusters may be end members of the same family as dSphs.

Galaxy interactions trigger rapid black hole growth: An unprecedented view from the Hyper Suprime-Cam survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goulding, Andy D.; Greene, Jenny E.; Bezanson, Rachel; Greco, Johnny; Johnson, Sean; Leauthaud, Alexie; Matsuoka, Yoshiki; Medezinski, Elinor; Price-Whelan, Adrian M.

2018-01-01

Collisions and interactions between gas-rich galaxies are thought to be pivotal stages in their formation and evolution, causing the rapid production of new stars, and possibly serving as a mechanism for fueling supermassive black holes (BHs). Harnessing the exquisite spatial resolution (˜0{^''.}5) afforded by the first ˜170 deg2 of the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey, we present our new constraints on the importance of galaxy-galaxy major mergers (1 : 4) in growing BHs throughout the last ˜8 Gyr. Utilizing mid-infrared observations in the WISE all-sky survey, we robustly select active galactic nuclei (AGN) and mass-matched control galaxy samples, totaling ˜140000 spectroscopically confirmed systems at i < 22 mag. We identify galaxy interaction signatures using a novel machine-learning random forest decision tree technique allowing us to select statistically significant samples of major mergers, minor mergers / irregular systems, and non-interacting galaxies. We use these samples to show that galaxies undergoing mergers are a factor of ˜2-7 more likely to contain luminous obscured AGN than non-interacting galaxies, and this is independent of both stellar mass and redshift to z < 0.9. Furthermore, based on our comparison of AGN fractions in mass-matched samples, we determine that the most luminous AGN population (LAGN ≳ 1045 erg s-1) systematically reside in merging systems over non-interacting galaxies. Our findings show that galaxy-galaxy interactions do, on average, trigger luminous AGN activity substantially more often than in secularly evolving non-interacting galaxies, and we further suggest that the BH growth rate may be closely tied to the dynamical time of the merger system.

Optical signatures of high-redshift galaxy clusters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Evrard, August E.; Charlot, Stephane

1994-01-01

We combine an N-body and gasdynamic simulation of structure formation with an updated population synthesis code to explore the expected optical characteristics of a high-redshift cluster of galaxies. We examine a poor (2 keV) cluster formed in a biased, cold dark matter cosmology and employ simple, but plausible, threshold criteria to convert gas into stars. At z = 2, the forming cluster appears as a linear chain of very blue (g-r approximately equals 0) galaxies, with 15 objects brighter than r = 25 within a 1 square arcmin field of view. After 2 Gyr of evolution, the cluster viewed at z = 1 displays both freshly infalling blue galaxies and red galaxies robbed of recent accretion by interaction with the hot intracluster medium. The range in G-R colors is approximately 3 mag at z = 1, with the reddest objects lying at sites of highest galaxy density. We suggest that red, high-redshift galaxies lie in the cores of forming clusters and that their existence indicates the presence of a hot intracluster medium at redshifts z approximately equals 2. The simulated cluster viewed at z = 2 has several characteristics similar to the collection of faint, blue objects identified by Dressler et al. in a deep Hubble Space Telescope observation. The similarities provide some support for the interpretation of this collection as a high-redshift cluster of galaxies.

Galaxies in the Diffuse Baryon Field Approaching Reionization: A Joint Study with JWST, HST, and Large Telescopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simcoe, Robert

2017-08-01

Our team is conducting a dedicated survey for emission-line galaxies at 5 < z < 7 in six fields containing the best and brightest z > 6 quasars, using JWST/NIRCAM's slitless grism in a 110 hour GTO allocation. We have acquired deep near-IR spectra of the QSOs, revealing multiple heavy-element absorption systems and probing the HI optical depth within each object's survey volume. These data will provide the first systematic view of the circumgalactic medium at z > 4, allowing us to study early metal enrichment, correlations of the intergalactic HI optical depth with galaxy density, and the environment of the quasar hosts. These fields generally do not have deep multicolor photometry that would facilitate selection of broadband dropout galaxies for future observation with JWST/NIRSPEC. However during long spectroscopic integrations with NIRCAM's long channel we will obtain deep JWST photometry in F115W and F200W, together with F356W for wavelength calibration. Here we request 30 orbits with HST/ACS to acquire deep optical photometry that (together with the JWST IR bands) will constrain SED models and enable dropout selection of fainter objects. For lower redshift objects the rest-UV ACS data will improve estimates of star formation rate and stellar mass. Within a Small-GO program scope we will obtain sensitivity similar to CANDELS-Deep in all six fields, and approximately double the size of our galaxy sample appropriate for JWST/NIRSPEC followup at redshifts approaching the reionization epoch.

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): Gas Fueling of Spiral Galaxies in the Local Universe. I. The Effect of the Group Environment on Star Formation in Spiral Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grootes, M. W.; Tuffs, R. J.; Popescu, C. C.; Norberg, P.; Robotham, A. S. G.; Liske, J.; Andrae, E.; Baldry, I. K.; Gunawardhana, M.; Kelvin, L. S.; Madore, B. F.; Seibert, M.; Taylor, E. N.; Alpaslan, M.; Brown, M. J. I.; Cluver, M. E.; Driver, S. P.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Holwerda, B. W.; Hopkins, A. M.; Lopez-Sanchez, A. R.; Loveday, J.; Rushton, M.

2017-03-01

We quantify the effect of the galaxy group environment (for group masses of 1012.5-1014.0 M ⊙) on the current star formation rate (SFR) of a pure, morphologically selected sample of disk-dominated (I.e., late-type spiral) galaxies with redshift ≤0.13. The sample embraces a full representation of quiescent and star-forming disks with stellar mass M * ≥ 109.5 M ⊙. We focus on the effects on SFR of interactions between grouped galaxies and the putative intrahalo medium (IHM) of their host group dark matter halos, isolating these effects from those induced through galaxy-galaxy interactions, and utilizing a radiation transfer analysis to remove the inclination dependence of derived SFRs. The dependence of SFR on M * is controlled for by measuring offsets Δlog(ψ *) of grouped galaxies about a single power-law relation in specific SFR, {\\psi }* \\propto {M}* -0.45+/- 0.01, exhibited by non-grouped “field” galaxies in the sample. While a small minority of the group satellites are strongly quenched, the group centrals and a large majority of satellites exhibit levels of ψ * statistically indistinguishable from their field counterparts, for all M *, albeit with a higher scatter of 0.44 dex about the field reference relation (versus 0.27 dex for the field). Modeling the distributions in Δlog(ψ *), we find that (I) after infall into groups, disk-dominated galaxies continue to be characterized by a similar rapid cycling of gas into and out of their interstellar medium shown prior to infall, with inflows and outflows of ˜1.5-5 x SFR and ˜1-4 x SFR, respectively; and (II) the independence of the continuity of these gas flow cycles on M * appears inconsistent with the required fueling being sourced from gas in the circumgalactic medium on scales of ˜100 kpc. Instead, our data favor ongoing fueling of satellites from the IHM of the host group halo on ˜Mpc scales, I.e., from gas not initially associated with the galaxies upon infall. Consequently, the color

Ultraviolet studies of the intergalactic medium, active galactic nuclei, and the low-z Ly-alpha forest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Penton, Steven Victor

1999-05-01

A database of all active galactic nuclei (AGN) observed with the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE, 1976-1995) was created to determine the brightest UV (1250 Å) extragalactic sources. Combined spectra, and continuum lightcurves are available for ~700 AGN. Fifteen targets were selected from this database for observation of the low-z Lyα forest with the Hubble Space Telescope. These observations were taken with the Goddard High Resolution spectrograph and the G160M grating (1991-1997). 111 significance level >3σ Lyα absorbers were detected in the redshift range, 0.002 < z < 0.069. This Thesis evaluates the physical properties of these Lyα absorbers and compares them to their high-z counterparts. In addition, we use large galaxy catalogs (i.e. the CfA Redshift Survey) to compare the relationship between known galaxies and the low-z Lyα forest. We find that the low-z absorbers are similar in physical characteristic and density to those detected at high- z. Some of these clouds appear to be primordial matter, owing to the lack of detected metallicity. A comparison to the known galaxy distribution indicates that the low-z Lyα forest clusters less than galaxies, but more than random. This suggests that at least a fraction of the absorbers are associated with the gas in galaxy associations (i.e. filaments), while a second population is distributed more uniformly. Over equal pathlengths (cΔz ~60,000 km s -1 each) of galaxy-rich and galaxy-poor environments (voids), we determine that 80% of Lyα absorbers are near large-scale galactic structures (i.e. filaments), while 20% are in galaxy voids.

A Pipeline for Constructing a Catalog of Multi-method Models of Interacting Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holincheck, Anthony

Galaxies represent a fundamental unit of matter for describing the large-scale structure of the universe. One of the major processes affecting the formation and evolution of galaxies are mutual interactions. These interactions can including gravitational tidal distortion, mass transfer, and even mergers. In any hierarchical model, mergers are the key mechanism in galaxy formation and evolution. Computer simulations of interacting galaxies have evolved in the last four decades from simple restricted three-body algorithms to full n-body gravity models. These codes often included sophisticated physical mechanisms such as gas dynamics, supernova feedback, and central blackholes. As the level of complexity, and perhaps realism, increases so does the amount of computational resources needed. These advanced simulations are often used in parameter studies of interactions. They are usually only employed in an ad hoc fashion to recreate the dynamical history of specific sets of interacting galaxies. These specific models are often created with only a few dozen or at most few hundred sets of simulation parameters being attempted. This dissertation presents a prototype pipeline for modeling specific pairs of interacting galaxies in bulk. The process begins with a simple image of the current disturbed morphology and an estimate of distance to the system and mass of the galaxies. With the use of an updated restricted three-body simulation code and the help of Citizen Scientists, the pipeline is able to sample hundreds of thousands of points in parameter space for each system. Through the use of a convenient interface and innovative scoring algorithm, the pipeline aids researchers in identifying the best set of simulation parameters. This dissertation demonstrates a successful recreation of the disturbed morphologies of 62 pairs of interacting galaxies. The pipeline also provides for examining the level of convergence and uniqueness of the dynamical properties of each system. By

THE HOST GALAXY PROPERTIES OF VARIABILITY SELECTED AGN IN THE PAN-STARRS1 MEDIUM DEEP SURVEY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heinis, S.; Gezari, S.; Kumar, S.

2016-07-20

We study the properties of 975 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) selected by variability in the Pan-STARRS1 Medium deep Survey. Using complementary multi-wavelength data from the ultraviolet to the far-infrared, we use spectral energy distribution fitting to determine the AGN and host properties at z < 1 and compare to a well-matched control sample. We confirm the trend previously observed: that the variability amplitude decreases with AGN luminosity, but we also observe that the slope of this relation steepens with wavelength, resulting in a “redder when brighter” trend at low luminosities. Our results show that AGNs are hosted by more massivemore » hosts than control sample galaxies, while the rest frame dust-corrected NUV r color distribution of AGN hosts is similar to control galaxies. We find a positive correlation between the AGN luminosity and star formation rate (SFR), independent of redshift. AGN hosts populate the entire range of SFRs within and outside of the Main Sequence of star-forming galaxies. Comparing the distribution of AGN hosts and control galaxies, we show that AGN hosts are less likely to be hosted by quiescent galaxies and more likely to be hosted by Main Sequence or starburst galaxies.« less

Relativistic and Slowing Down: The Flow in the Hotspots of Powerful Radio Galaxies and Quasars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kazanas, D.

2003-01-01

The 'hotspots' of powerful radio galaxies (the compact, high brightness regions, where the jet flow collides with the intergalactic medium (IGM)) have been imaged in radio, optical and recently in X-ray frequencies. We propose a scheme that unifies their, at first sight, disparate broad band (radio to X-ray) spectral properties. This scheme involves a relativistic flow upstream of the hotspot that decelerates to the sub-relativistic speed of its inferred advance through the IGM and it is viewed at different angles to its direction of motion, as suggested by two independent orientation estimators (the presence or not of broad emission lines in their optical spectra and the core-to-extended radio luminosity). This scheme, besides providing an account of the hotspot spectral properties with jet orientation, it also suggests that the large-scale jets remain relativistic all the way to the hotspots.

VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS): IGM transmission towards galaxies with 2.5 < z < 5.5 and the colour selection of high-redshift galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, R.; Le Fèvre, O.; Le Brun, V.; Cassata, P.; Garilli, B.; Lemaux, B. C.; Maccagni, D.; Pentericci, L.; Tasca, L. A. M.; Zamorani, G.; Zucca, E.; Amorin, R.; Bardelli, S.; Cassarà, L.; Castellano, M.; Cimatti, A.; Cucciati, O.; Durkalec, A.; Fontana, A.; Giavalisco, M.; Grazian, A.; Hathi, N. P.; Ilbert, O.; Paltani, S.; Pforr, J.; Ribeiro, B.; Schaerer, D.; Scodeggio, M.; Sommariva, V.; Talia, M.; Tresse, L.; Vanzella, E.; Vergani, D.; Capak, P.; Charlot, S.; Contini, T.; Cuby, J. G.; de la Torre, S.; Dunlop, J.; Fotopoulou, S.; Koekemoer, A.; López-Sanjuan, C.; Mellier, Y.; Salvato, M.; Scoville, N.; Taniguchi, Y.; Wang, P. W.

2017-01-01

The observed UV rest-frame spectra of distant galaxies are the result of their intrinsic emission combined with absorption along the line of sight produced by the inter-galactic medium (IGM). Here we analyse the evolution of the mean IGM transmission Tr(Lyα) and its dispersion along the line of sight for 2127 galaxies with 2.5 < z < 5.5 in the VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey (VUDS). We fitted model spectra combined with a range of IGM transmission to the galaxy spectra using the spectral fitting algorithm GOSSIP+. We used these fits to derive the mean IGM transmission towards each galaxy for several redshift slices from z = 2.5 to z = 5.5. We found that the mean IGM transmission defined as Tr(Lyα) = e- τ (with τ as the HI optical depth) is 79%, 69%, 59%, 55%, and 46% at redshifts 2.75, 3.22, 3.70, 4.23, and 4.77, respectively. We compared these results to measurements obtained from quasar lines of sight and found that the IGM transmission towards galaxies is in excellent agreement with quasar values up to redshift z 4. We found tentative evidence for a higher IGM transmission at z ≥ 4 compared to results from QSOs, but a degeneracy between dust extinction and IGM prevents us from firmly concluding whether the internal dust extinction for star-forming galaxies at z > 4 takes a mean value significantly in excess of E(B-V) > 0.15. Most importantly, we found a large dispersion of IGM transmission along the lines of sight towards distant galaxies with 68% of the distribution within 10 to 17% of the median value in δz = 0.5 bins, similar to what is found on the lines of sight towards QSOs. We demonstrate that taking this broad range of IGM transmission into account is important when selecting high-redshift galaxies based on their colour properties (e.g. LBG or photometric redshiftselection) because failing to do so causes a significant incompleteness in selecting high-redshift galaxy populations. We finally discuss the observed IGM properties and speculate that the broad

Paired and Interacting Galaxies: International Astronomical Union Colloquium No. 124

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sulentic, Jack W. (Editor); Keel, William C. (Editor); Telesco, C. M. (Editor)

1990-01-01

The proceedings of the International Astronomical Union Colloquium No. 124, held at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, on December 4 to 7, are given. The purpose of the conference was to describe the current state of theoretical and observational knowledge of interacting galaxies, with particular emphasis on galaxies in pairs.

The Baryon Cycle at High Redshifts: Effects of Galactic Winds on Galaxy Evolution in Overdense and Average Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sadoun, Raphael; Shlosman, Isaac; Choi, Jun-Hwan; Romano-Díaz, Emilio

2016-10-01

We employ high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations focusing on a high-sigma peak and an average cosmological field at z ˜ 6-12 in order to investigate the influence of environment and baryonic feedback on galaxy evolution in the reionization epoch. Strong feedback, e.g., galactic winds, caused by elevated star formation rates (SFRs) is expected to play an important role in this evolution. We compare different outflow prescriptions: (I) constant wind velocity (CW), (II) variable wind scaling with galaxy properties (VW), and (III) no outflows (NW). The overdensity leads to accelerated evolution of dark matter and baryonic structures, absent from the “normal” region, and to shallow galaxy stellar mass functions at the low-mass end. Although CW shows little dependence on the environment, the more physically motivated VW model does exhibit this effect. In addition, VW can reproduce the observed specific SFR (sSFR) and the sSFR-stellar mass relation, which CW and NW fail to satisfy simultaneously. Winds also differ substantially in affecting the state of the intergalactic medium (IGM). The difference lies in the volume-filling factor of hot, high-metallicity gas, which is near unity for CW, while such gas remains confined in massive filaments for VW, and locked up in galaxies for NW. Such gas is nearly absent from the normal region. Although all wind models suffer from deficiencies, the VW model seems to be promising in correlating the outflow properties with those of host galaxies. Further constraints on the state of the IGM at high z are needed to separate different wind models.

The Interstellar Medium of Blue compact dwarf galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thuan, Trinh Xuan

Blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies are metal-deficient and thus constitute excellent nearby laboratories for studying how the properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) in galaxies change with metallicity. Our sample consists of 4 BCDs chosen to span the metallicity range from 15 to 12 of the solar metallicity. This sample will extend the metallicity range covered by our Cycle 1 observations (141 to 110 solar). The proposed FUSE observations will allow us to investigate the 1) H_2 content of BCDs as a function of metallicity. No H_2 line has been detected in the 2 very metal-deficient BCDs which have been observed by FUSE so far. Will diffuse H_2 be present in more metal-rich BCDs and with less UV radiation density? 2) the structure of the ISM in BCDs. Analysis of 2 BCDs observed by FUSE in Cycle 1 (IZw18 and Mrk 59) show that in the first, the ISM appears to be relatively homogeneous while in the second, it is very clumpy. What are the factors which determine the gas clumpiness in BCDs 3) the abundances in the ISM. Analysis of the FUSE spectrum of Mrk 59 showed C, N, O, Si, Fe and S absorption lines which allow to derive abundances in the ISM using photoinization models. How do these abundances compare with the abundances derived from the emission-line optical spectra? 4) the evolutionary history and stellar winds in BCDs by detecting the P Cygni profiles of high ionization S VI and O VI lines.

Simulating the interaction of jets with the intracluster medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weinberger, Rainer; Ehlert, Kristian; Pfrommer, Christoph; Pakmor, Rüdiger; Springel, Volker

2017-10-01

Jets from supermassive black holes in the centres of galaxy clusters are a potential candidate for moderating gas cooling and subsequent star formation through depositing energy in the intracluster gas. In this work, we simulate the jet-intracluster medium interaction using the moving-mesh magnetohydrodynamics code arepo. Our model injects supersonic, low-density, collimated and magnetized outflows in cluster centres, which are then stopped by the surrounding gas, thermalize and inflate low-density cavities filled with cosmic rays. We perform high-resolution, non-radiative simulations of the lobe creation, expansion and disruption, and find that its dynamical evolution is in qualitative agreement with simulations of idealized low-density cavities that are dominated by a large-scale Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The buoyant rising of the lobe does not create energetically significant small-scale chaotic motion in a volume-filling fashion, but rather a systematic upward motion in the wake of the lobe and a corresponding back-flow antiparallel to it. We find that, overall, 50 per cent of the injected energy ends up in material that is not part of the lobe, and about 25 per cent remains in the inner 100 kpc. We conclude that jet-inflated, buoyantly rising cavities drive systematic gas motions that play an important role in heating the central regions, while mixing of lobe material is subdominant. Encouragingly, the main mechanisms responsible for this energy deposition can be modelled already at resolutions within reach in future, high-resolution cosmological simulations of galaxy clusters.

Dynamical simulations of the interacting galaxies in the NGC 520/UGC 957 system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stanford, S. A.; Balcells, Marc

1991-01-01

Numerical simulations of the interacting galaxies in the NGC 520/UGC 957 system are presented. Two sets of models were produced to investigate the postulated three-galaxy system of two colliding disk galaxies within NGC 520 and the dwarf galaxy UGC 957. The first set of models simulated a dwarf perturbing one-disk galaxy, which tested the possibility that NGC 520 contains only one galaxy disturbed by the passage of UGC 957. The resulting morphology of the perturbed single disk in the simulation fails to reproduce the observed tidal tails and northwest mass condensation of NGC 520. A second set of models simulated two colliding disks, which tested the hypothesis that NGC 520 itself contains two galaxies in a strong collision and UGC 957 is unimportant to the interaction. These disk-disk models produced a good match to the morphology of the present NGC 520. It is concluded that (1) NGC 520 contains two colliding disk galaxies which have produced the brighter southern half of the long tidal tail and (2) UGC 957, which may originally have been a satellite of one of the disk galaxies, formed the diffuse northern tail as it orbited NGC 520.

The Extent of Chemically Enriched Gas around Star-forming Dwarf Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Sean D.; Chen, Hsiao-Wen; Mulchaey, John S.; Schaye, Joop; Straka, Lorrie A.

2017-11-01

Supernova driven winds are often invoked to remove chemically enriched gas from dwarf galaxies to match their low observed metallicities. In such shallow potential wells, outflows may produce massive amounts of enriched halo gas (circumgalactic medium, CGM) and pollute the intergalactic medium (IGM). Here, we present a survey of the CGM and IGM around 18 star-forming field dwarfs with stellar masses of {log} {M}* /{M}⊙ ≈ 8{--}9 at z≈ 0.2. Eight of these have CGM probed by quasar absorption spectra at projected distances, d, less than that of the host virial radius, {R}{{h}}. Ten are probed in the surrounding IGM at d/{R}{{h}}=1{--}3. The absorption measurements include neutral hydrogen, the dominant silicon ions for diffuse cool gas (T ˜ 104 K; Si II, Si III, and Si IV), moderately ionized carbon (C IV), and highly ionized oxygen (O VI). Metal absorption from the CGM of the dwarfs is less common and ≈ 4× weaker compared to massive star-forming galaxies, though O VI absorption is still common. None of the dwarfs probed at d/{R}{{h}}=1{--}3 have definitive metal-line detections. Combining the available silicon ions, we estimate that the cool CGM of the dwarfs accounts for only 2%-6% of the expected silicon budget from the yields of supernovae associated with past star formation. The highly ionized O VI accounts for ≈8% of the oxygen budget. As O VI traces an ion with expected equilibrium ion fractions of ≲0.2, the highly ionized CGM may represent a significant metal reservoir even for dwarfs not expected to maintain gravitationally shock heated hot halos.

Active galactic nuclei feedback, quiescence and circumgalactic medium metal enrichment in early-type galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eisenreich, Maximilian; Naab, Thorsten; Choi, Ena; Ostriker, Jeremiah P.; Emsellem, Eric

2017-06-01

We present three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations showing the effect of kinetic and radiative active galactic nuclei (AGN) feedback on a model galaxy representing a massive quiescent low-redshift early-type galaxy of M* = 8.41 × 1010 M⊙, harbouring an MBH = 4 × 108 M⊙ black hole surrounded by a cooling gaseous halo. We show that, for a total baryon fraction of ˜20 per cent of the cosmological value, feedback from the AGN can keep the galaxy quiescent for about 4.35 Gyr and with properties consistent with black hole mass and X-ray luminosity scaling relations. However, this can only be achieved if the AGN feedback model includes both kinetic and radiative feedback modes. The simulation with only kinetic feedback fails to keep the model galaxy fully quiescent, while one with only radiative feedback leads to excessive black hole growth. For higher baryon fractions (e.g. 50 per cent of the cosmological value), the X-ray luminosities exceed observed values by at least one order of magnitude, and rapid cooling results in a star-forming galaxy. The AGN plays a major role in keeping the circumgalactic gas at observed metallicities of Z/Z⊙ ≳ 0.3 within the central ˜30 kpc by venting nuclear gas enriched with metals from residual star formation activity. As indicated by previous cosmological simulations, our results are consistent with a model for which the black hole mass and the total baryon fraction are set at higher redshifts z > 1 and the AGN alone can keep the model galaxy on observed scaling relations. Models without AGN feedback violate both the quiescence criterion as well as circumgalactic medium metallicity constraints.

WEAVE-QSO: A Massive Intergalactic Medium Survey for the William Herschel Telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pieri, M. M.; Bonoli, S.; Chaves-Montero, J.; Pâris, I.; Fumagalli, M.; Bolton, J. S.; Viel, M.; Noterdaeme, P.; Miralda-Escudé, J.; Busca, N. G.; Rahmani, H.; Peroux, C.; Font-Ribera, A.; Trager, S. C.

2016-12-01

In these proceedings we describe the WEAVE-QSO survey, which will observe around 400,000 high redshift quasars starting in 2018. This survey is part of a broader WEAVE survey to be conducted at the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope. We will focus on chiefly on the science goals, but will also briefly summarise the target selection methods anticipated and the expected survey plan. Understanding the apparent acceleration in the expansion of the Universe is one of the key scientific challenges of our time. Many experiments have been proposed to study this expansion, using a variety of techniques. Here we describe a survey that can measure this acceleration and therefore help elucidate the nature of dark energy: a survey of the Lyα forest (and quasar absorption in general) in spectra towards z>2 quasars (QSOs). Further constraints on neutrino masses and warm dark matter are also anticipated. The same data will also shed light on galaxy formation via study of the properties of inflowing/outflowing gas associated with nearby galaxies and in a cosmic web context. Gas properties are sensitive to density, temperature, UV radiation, metallicity and abundance pattern, and so constraint galaxy formation in a variety of ways. WEAVE-QSO will study absorbers with a dynamic range spanning more than 8 orders of magnitude in column density, their thermal broadening, and a host of elements and ionization species. A core principal of the WEAVE-QSO survey is the targeting of QSOs with near 100% efficiency principally through use of the J-PAS (r < 23.2) and Gaia (r ≲ 20) data.

Probing Self-interacting Dark Matter with Disk Galaxies in Cluster Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Secco, Lucas F.; Farah, Amanda; Jain, Bhuvnesh; Adhikari, Susmita; Banerjee, Arka; Dalal, Neal

2018-06-01

Self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) has long been proposed as a solution to small-scale problems posed by standard cold dark matter. We use numerical simulations to study the effect of dark matter interactions on the morphology of disk galaxies falling into galaxy clusters. The effective drag force on dark matter leads to offsets of the stellar disk with respect to the surrounding halo, causing distortions in the disk. For anisotropic scattering cross sections of 0.5 and 1.0 {cm}}2 {{{g}}}-1, we show that potentially observable warps, asymmetries, and thickening of the disk occur in simulations. We discuss observational tests of SIDM with galaxy surveys and more realistic simulations needed to obtain detailed predictions.

The interstellar medium in Andromeda's dwarf spheroidal galaxies - II. Multiphase gas content and ISM conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Looze, Ilse; Baes, Maarten; Cormier, Diane; Kaneko, Hiroyuki; Kuno, Nario; Young, Lisa; Bendo, George J.; Boquien, Médéric; Fritz, Jacopo; Gentile, Gianfranco; Kennicutt, Robert C.; Madden, Suzanne C.; Smith, Matthew W. L.; Wilson, Christine D.

2017-03-01

We make an inventory of the interstellar medium material in three low-metallicity dwarf spheroidal galaxies of the Local Group (NGC 147, NGC 185 and NGC 205). Ancillary H I, CO, Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph spectra, Hα and X-ray observations are combined to trace the atomic, cold and warm molecular, ionized and hot gas phases. We present new Nobeyama CO(1-0) observations and Herschel SPIRE FTS [C I] observations of NGC 205 to revise its molecular gas content. We derive total gas masses of Mg = 1.9-5.5 × 105 M⊙ for NGC 185 and Mg = 8.6-25.0 × 105 M⊙ for NGC 205. Non-detections combine to an upper limit on the gas mass of Mg ≤ 0.3-2.2 × 105 M⊙ for NGC 147. The observed gas reservoirs are significantly lower compared to the expected gas masses based on a simple closed-box model that accounts for the gas mass returned by planetary nebulae and supernovae. The gas-to-dust mass ratios GDR ∼ 37-107 and 48-139 are also considerably lower compared to the expected GDR ∼ 370 and 520 for the low metal abundances in NGC 185 (0.36 Z⊙) and NGC 205 (0.25 Z⊙), respectively. To simultaneously account for the gas deficiency and low gas-to-dust ratios, we require an efficient removal of a large gas fraction and a longer dust survival time (∼1.6 Gyr). We believe that efficient galactic winds (combined with heating of gas to sufficiently high temperatures in order for it to escape from the galaxy) and/or environmental interactions with neighbouring galaxies are responsible for the gas removal from NGC 147, NGC 185 and NGC 205.

Good News from Big Bad Black Holes: Jet-Induced Star Formation in ``Minkowski's Object"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Breugel, W.; Croft, S.; de Vries, W.; van Gorkom, J. H.; Morganti, R.; Osterloo, T.; Dopita, M.

2004-12-01

We present VLA neutral hydrogen (HI) observations which show that ``Minkowski's Object", a peculiar starburst system, is due to the interaction of a low luminosity (FR-I type) radio jet with the intergalactic medium (IGM) in the cluster of galaxies A194. The transverse size and bimodal structure of the HI cloud, straddling the jet; its location downstream from the star forming region; and kinematic evidence for gas entrainment all are in agreement with previous numerical simulations (Fragile et al 2004) which concluded that FR-I type jets can trigger star formation by driving radiative shocks into the moderately dense, warm gas that is typical of central galaxy cluster regions. We compare the timescales for HI formation with the age of the starburst derived from recent Keck, Lick and HST spectroscopic and imaging data (see poster by Croft et al), which allows us to put constraints on the physical conditions in the radio jet (speed) and its ambient medium (density).

A search for faint high-redshift radio galaxy candidates at 150 MHz

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saxena, A.; Jagannathan, P.; Röttgering, H. J. A.; Best, P. N.; Intema, H. T.; Zhang, M.; Duncan, K. J.; Carilli, C. L.; Miley, G. K.

2018-04-01

Ultrasteep spectrum (USS) radio sources are good tracers of powerful radio galaxies at z > 2. Identification of even a single bright radio galaxy at z > 6 can be used to detect redshifted 21 cm absorption due to neutral hydrogen in the intervening intergalactic medium. Here we describe a new sample of high-redshift radio galaxy (HzRG) candidates constructed from the TIFR GMRT Sky Survey First Alternative Data Release survey at 150 MHz. We employ USS selection (α ≤ -1.3) in ˜10 000 deg2, in combination with strict size selection and non-detections in all-sky optical and infrared surveys. We apply flux density cuts that probe a unique parameter space in flux density (50 mJy < S150 < 200 mJy) to build a sample of 32 HzRG candidates. Follow-up Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) observations at 1.4 GHz with an average beam size of 1.3 arcsec revealed ˜ 48 per cent of sources to have a single radio component. P-band (370 MHz) imaging of 17 of these sources revealed a flattening radio SED for 10 sources at low frequencies, which is expected from compact HzRGs. Two of our sources lie in fields where deeper multiwavelength photometry and ancillary radio data are available and for one of these we find a best-fitting photo-z of 4.8 ± 2.0. The other source has zphot = 1.4 ± 0.1 and a small angular size (3.7 arcsec), which could be associated with an obscured star-forming galaxy or with a `dead' elliptical. One USS radio source not part of the HzRG sample but observed with the VLA none the less is revealed to be a candidate giant radio galaxy with a host galaxy photo-z of 1.8 ± 0.5, indicating a size of 875 kpc.

Young star clusters in the interacting galaxies of Hickson Compact Group 90

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miah, J. A.; Sharples, R. M.; Cho, J.

2015-03-01

Deep images of Hickson Compact Group 90 (HCG 90) have been obtained using the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope. We report results for star clusters observed in the interacting pair of galaxies NGC 7174 and NGC 7176. We present magnitude and colour distributions for the observed cluster population and find that the majority of objects show colours similar to intermediate/old age (>1 Gyr) globular clusters. However, a significant population of blue star clusters are also observed which may have formed from the tidal interaction currently occurring between the two galaxies. We find luminosity function turnover magnitudes of m^{TO}g = 25.1 ± 0.1 and m^{TO}z = 24.3 ± 0.1 for the g and z bands, respectively, implying distances of Dg = 28.8 ± 2.6 Mpc and Dz = 34.7 ± 3.1 Mpc to these galaxies, using the globular cluster luminosity function method. Lastly, we determine a total cluster population of approximately NGC ≃ 212 ± 10 over all magnitudes and a low specific frequency of SN ˜ 0.6 ± 0.1 for this pair of interacting elliptical and spiral galaxies. The small globular cluster population is likely due to tidal interactions taking place between the two galaxies which may have stripped many progenitor clusters away and formed the diffuse light observed at the core of HCG 90.

Discovery of a transparent sightline at ρ ≲ 20 kpc from an interacting pair of galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Sean D.; Chen, Hsiao-Wen; Mulchaey, John S.; Tripp, Todd M.; Prochaska, J. Xavier; Werk, Jessica K.

2014-03-01

We report the discovery of a transparent sightline at projected distances of ρ ≲ 20 kpc to an interacting pair of mature galaxies at z = 0.12. The sightline of the UV-bright quasar PG 1522+101 at zem = 1.328 passes at ρ = 11.5 kpc from the higher mass galaxy (M* = 1010.6 M⊙) and ρ = 20.4 kpc from the lower mass one (M* = 1010.0 M⊙). The two galaxies are separated by 9 kpc in projected distance and 30 km s-1 in line-of-sight velocity. Deep optical images reveal tidal features indicative of close interactions. Despite the small projected distances, the quasar sightline shows little absorption associated with the galaxy pair with a total H I column density no greater than log N({H I})/cm^{-2}=13.65. This limiting H I column density is already two orders of magnitude less than what is expected from previous halo gas studies. In addition, we detect no heavy-element absorption features associated with the galaxy pair with 3σ limits of log N({Mg II})/cm^{-2} < 12.2 and log N({O VI})/cm^{-2} < 13.7. The probability of seeing such little absorption in a sightline passing at a small projected distance from two non-interacting galaxies is 0.2 per cent. The absence of strong absorbers near the close galaxy pair suggests that the cool gas reservoirs of the galaxies have been significantly depleted by the galaxy interaction. These observations therefore underscore the potential impact of galaxy interactions on the gaseous haloes around galaxies.

FIREBall-2: Trailblazing observations of the space UV circumgalactic medium (Columbia University, Co-I Proposal)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schiminovich, David

Columbia University is a Co-I institution in a collaborative research program with Caltech, the Lead Institution (PI: Christopher Martin). The Faint Intergalactic-medium Redshifted Emission Balloon (FIREBall-2) is designed to discover and map faint emission from the circumgalactic medium of low redshift galaxies (0.3intergalactic and circumgalactic (IGM, CGM) emission available from any instrument at the time. FIREBall-2 has been significantly upgraded compared to FB-1, and is in the final stages of integration for a September 2016 flight from Ft. Sumner, New Mexico. The spectrograph has been redesigned with a wider field of view and greater efficiency. An upgraded detector system including a groundbreaking high QE, low-noise, UV optimized CCD detector is under final dark current and noise testing and will improve instrument performance by more than an order of magnitude. CNES is providing the spectrograph, gondola, and gondola flight support team, with construction of all components complete and final alignment and testing ongoing. We propose three additional years of funding to support the FIREBall-2 team in one additional flight in 2018 to fully utilize the upgraded spectrograph. This second flight, along with the funded 2016 flight, will conduct an initial blind CGM survey of dense fields at z 0.7, conduct a targeted search of circumquasar (CQM) media for selected targets, and conduct follow up on likely tar-gets selected via GALEX and a pilot survey conducted by our group. We will also conduct a statistical search for the faint IGM via statistical stacking of our data. The FIREBall-2 team includes two female graduate students in key roles (both of whom are finishing their PhDs in 2016) and is overseen by a female Postdoctoral scholar (supported by NSF AAPF

Infrared emission and tidal interactions of spiral galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Byrd, Gene G.

1987-01-01

Computer simulations of tidal interactions of spiral galaxies are used to attempt to understand recent discoveries about infrared (IR) emitting galaxies. It is found that the stronger tidal perturbation by a companion the more disk gas clouds are thrown into nucleus crossing orbits and the greater the velocity jumps crossing spiral arms. Both these tidally created characteristics would create more IR emission by high speed cloud collisions and more IR via effects of recently formed stars. This expectation at greater tidal perturbation matches the observation of greater IR emission for spiral galaxies with closer and/or more massive companions. The greater collision velocities found at stronger perturbations on the models will also result in higher dust temperature in the colliding clouds. In the IR pairs examined, most have only one member, the larger, detected and when both are detected, the larger is always the more luminous. In simulations and in a simple analytic description of the strong distance dependence of the tidal force, it is found that the big galaxy of a pair is more strongly affected than the small.

A near-infrared imaging survey of interacting galaxies - The small angular-size Arp systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bushouse, Howard A.; Stanford, S. A.

1992-01-01

Near-IR images of a large sample of interacting galaxies selected from the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies by Arp (1966) have been obtained. Approximately 180 systems have been imaged in at least two, and usually three of the standard JHK bands. The survey and the observing and data reduction procedures, are described, and contour plots and aperture photometry are presented. Future papers will analyze the imaging data by groupings based on interaction type, stage, and progenitors. The goals of the analysis are to explore the relationships between galaxy interactions, activity, and morphology by studying the structure of the near-IR luminosity distribution, where extinction effects are much reduced relative to the optical and the major stellar mass component of galaxies dominates the observed light.

The link between tidal interaction and nuclear activity in galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lin, D. N. C.; Pringle, J. E.; Rees, M. J.

1988-01-01

It is considered how nuclear activity in galaxies may be induced by the tidal perturbation of companion galaxies. It is suggested that if the central regions of the galaxies contain marginally self-gravitating disks of gas, trailing spiral density waves, triggered by nonaxisymmetric gravitational instability, lead to efficient angular momentum transport. If the net effect of the external perturbation is to increase the effect of self-gravity in the gas, then the result is to induce a considerable increase in the mass accretion rate into the central region on a relatively short time scale. With a simple prescription, the evolution of self-gravitating accretion disks is examined in this context. These results are discussed in the context of the frequent occurrence of nuclear activity in interacting galaxies.

X-Ray Binaries in Local Analogs to the First Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brorby, Matthew G.

2017-02-01

The focus of this dissertation is to investigate the effect of metallicity on high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) formation and evolution as a means to understand the evolution of the early Universe (z > 6). Understanding the population and X-ray output of HMXBs are vital to modelling the heating and ionization morphology of the intergalactic medium during the epoch of reionization. Current X-ray instruments are unable to directly detect very high redshift HMXBs, making it impossible to constrain population sizes in this way. Instead certain local galaxies may be used as analogs to infer the properties of galaxies in the early Universe. These local analogs should have properties consistent with those expected for the first galaxies, such as low-metallicity, compact morphology, and intense recent star formation. I present an X-ray population study of 25 blue compact dwarf galaxies (BCD), using multiwavelength data and Bayesian analysis techniques. We find a significant enhancement of the HMXB population in low-metallicity environments and suggest the same may be true in the early Universe. I continue the investigation of HMXB populations in a sample of 10 moderate metallicity (Z ≥ 0.3, Z solar masses), local star-forming galaxies known as Lyman Break Analogs (LBAs). I find evidence of a LX-SFR-metallicity plane in the combined sample of BCDs, LBAs, and regular star-forming galaxies. Then I study a third type of local analog to early Universe galaxies, the Green Pea galaxies. These are a subclass of luminous compact galaxies (LCGs) which show strong [OIII]lambda5007A emission indicative of extreme, recent star-formation. This pilot study was carried out to look, for the first time in X-rays, at this recently established class of galaxies and use them to test the LX-SFR-metallicity plane. Determining the spectral properties of bright HMXBs in low-metallicity environments also has important implications for models of X-ray heating leading up to the Epoch of Reionization. I

SDSS (g--r) colors of isolated galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernández Lorenzo, M.; Sulentic, J.; Verdes-Montenegro, L.; Ruiz, J. E.; Sabater, J.; Sánchez-Expósito, S.

2013-05-01

Several processes can affect a galaxy over its lifetime. If effects of interaction with companions are minimized, it is possible to focus on secular evolutionary processes. We present a study of the SDSS (g--r) colors of isolated galaxies in the AMIGA project (Analysis of the interstellar Medium of Isolated GAlaxies; http://www.amiga.iaa.es). Assuming that color is an indicator of the star formation history, this work better records the signature of passive star formation via pure secular evolution. We focused on median values for the main morphological subtypes found in the AMIGA sample (66% Sb--Sc and 14% E/S0) and compared them with equivalent measures of galaxies in denser environments. The main results of this study include: 1) a tendency for AMIGA spiral galaxies to be redder than similar type galaxies in close pairs, but 2) no clear difference when we compare with galaxies in other (e.g. group) environments; 3) a Gaussian distribution of the (g--r) color of isolated galaxies, as might be expected in the case of pure secular evolution; and 4) a smaller median absolute deviation in colors for isolated galaxies compared to both wide and close pairs.

Are starburst galaxies proton calorimeters?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xilu; Fields, Brian D.

2018-03-01

Several starburst galaxies have been observed in the GeV and TeV bands. In these dense environments, gamma-ray emission should be dominated by cosmic ray (CR) interactions with the interstellar medium (pcrpism → π0 → γγ). Indeed, starbursts may act as proton `calorimeters' where a substantial fraction of CR energy input is emitted in gamma-rays. Here, we build a one-zone, `thick-target' model implementing calorimetry and placing a firm upper bound on gamma-ray emission from CR interactions. The model assumes that CRs are accelerated by supernovae (SNe), and all suffer nuclear interactions rather than escape. Our model has only two free parameters: the CR proton acceleration energy per SN ɛcr, and the proton injection spectral index s. We calculate the pionic gamma-ray emission from 10 MeV to 10 TeV, and derive thick-target parameters for six galaxies with Fermi, H.E.S.S., and/or VERITAS data. Our model provides good fits for the M82 and NGC 253, and yields ɛcr and s values suggesting that SN CR acceleration is similar in starbursts and in our Galaxy. We find that these starbursts are indeed nearly if not fully proton calorimeters. For NGC 4945 and NGC 1068, the models are consistent with calorimetry but are less well-constrained due to the lack of TeV data. However, the Circinus galaxy and the ultra-luminous infrared galaxy Arp 220 exceed our pionic upper-limit; possible explanations are discussed.

Gas-rich dwarfs and accretion phenomena in early-type galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Silk, J.; Norman, C.

1979-01-01

An analysis is presented of the combined effects of cloud accretion and galactic winds and coronae. An accretion model is developed wherein gas-rich dwarf galaxies are accreted into galactic halos, which provides an adequate source of H I to account for observations of neutral gas in early-type galaxies. Accretion is found to fuel the wind, thereby regulating the accretion flow and yielding a time-dependent model for star formation, enrichment, and nuclear activity. The permissible parameter range for intergalactic gas clouds and galaxy groups is discussed, along with the frequency of gas-rich dwarfs and their large ratios of gas mass to luminosity. Also considered is the occurrence of gas stripping and the consequent formation of dwarf spheroidal systems that remain in the halo, and gas clouds that dissipate and suffer further infall. A cosmological implication of the model is that, because the characteristic time scale of a gas-rich dwarf galaxy to be accreted and lose its gas is comparable to a Hubble time, there may have been a far more extensive primordial distribution of such systems at earlier epochs.

Quasar Feedback at the Peak of the Galaxy Formation Epoch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Guilin; Zakamska, Nadia L.; Strauss, Michael A.; Greene, Jenny E.; Alexandroff, Rachael

2014-08-01

The correlations between properties of supermassive black holes and stellar spheroids in galaxies imply a physical connection between these two components. Using Gemini GMOS IFU, we demonstrated that powerful ionized gas winds are ubiquitous in luminous radio-quiet z~ 0.5 quasars. We now extend this study to the era of peak galaxy formation and quasar activity when quasar feedback likely shaped the properties of massive galaxies. Our GMOS IFU observations of 5 quasars at z~ 3 are now underway, and we plan for fall observations. We propose a GMOS IFU survey to map the spatial distribution and kinematics of Ly(alpha) and N V 1240Aemission around 5 obscured quasars at z=3-3.3 that are extremely luminous (L_Ly(alpha)~10^45 erg s^- 1). Obscured quasars likely constitute the majority of the quasar population and represent the early enshrouded phase of black hole growth, luminous obscured quasars are thus the most likely sites of quasar feedback, as we found at low redshifts. We will look for quasar- driven outflows, and directly probe the effects of quasars on their galaxy-wide and intergalactic environments close to the peak of the galaxy formation epoch.

Morphology of Dwarf Galaxies in Isolated Satellite Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ann, Hong Bae

2017-08-01

The environmental dependence of the morphology of dwarf galaxies in isolated satellite systems is analyzed to understand the origin of the dwarf galaxy morphology using the visually classified morphological types of 5836 local galaxies with z ≲ 0.01. We consider six sub-types of dwarf galaxies, dS0, dE, dE_{bc}, dSph, dE_{blue}, and dI, of which the first four sub-types are considered as early-type and the last two as late-type. The environmental parameters we consider are the projected distance from the host galaxy (r_{p}), local and global background densities, and the host morphology. The spatial distributions of dwarf satellites of early-type galaxies are much different from those of dwarf satellites of late-type galaxies, suggesting the host morphology combined with r_{p} plays a decisive role on the morphology of the dwarf satellite galaxies. The local and global background densities play no significant role on the morphology of dwarfs in the satellite systems hosted by early-type galaxies. However, in the satellite system hosted by late-type galaxies, the global background densities of dE and dSph satellites are significantly different from those of dE_{bc}, dE_{blue}, and dI satellites. The blue-cored dwarf satellites (dE_{bc}) of early-type galaxies are likely to be located at r_{p} > 0.3 Mpc to keep their cold gas from the ram pressure stripping by the hot corona of early-type galaxies. The spatial distribution of dE_{bc} satellites of early-type galaxies and their global background densities suggest that their cold gas is intergalactic material accreted before they fall into the satellite systems.

Modeling Physical Processes at Galactic Scales and Above

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gnedin, Nickolay Y.

What should these lectures be? The subject is so broad that many books can be written about it. I decided to prepare these lectures as if I were teaching my own graduate student. Given my research interests, I selected what the student would need to know to be able to discuss science with me and to work on joint research projects. So, the story presented below is both personal and incomplete, but it does cover several subjects that are poorly represented in the existing textbooks (if at all). Some of topics I focus on below are closely connected, others aremore » disjoint, some are just side detours on specific technical questions. There is an overlapping theme, however. Our goal is to follow the cosmic gas from large scales, low densities, (relatively) simple physics to progressively smaller scales, higher densities, closer relation to galaxies, and more complex and uncertain physics. We follow a "yellow brick road" from the gas well beyond any galaxy confines to the actual sites of star formation and stellar feedback. On the way we will stop at some places for a tour and run without looking back through some others. So, the road will be uneven. The organization of the material is as follows: physics of the intergalactic medium, from intergalactic medium to circumgalactic medium, interstellar medium: gas in galaxies, star formation, and stellar feedback.« less

THE BARYON CYCLE AT HIGH REDSHIFTS: EFFECTS OF GALACTIC WINDS ON GALAXY EVOLUTION IN OVERDENSE AND AVERAGE REGIONS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sadoun, Raphael; Shlosman, Isaac; Choi, Jun-Hwan

2016-10-01

We employ high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations focusing on a high-sigma peak and an average cosmological field at z ∼ 6–12 in order to investigate the influence of environment and baryonic feedback on galaxy evolution in the reionization epoch. Strong feedback, e.g., galactic winds, caused by elevated star formation rates (SFRs) is expected to play an important role in this evolution. We compare different outflow prescriptions: (i) constant wind velocity (CW), (ii) variable wind scaling with galaxy properties (VW), and (iii) no outflows (NW). The overdensity leads to accelerated evolution of dark matter and baryonic structures, absent from the “normal” region,more » and to shallow galaxy stellar mass functions at the low-mass end. Although CW shows little dependence on the environment, the more physically motivated VW model does exhibit this effect. In addition, VW can reproduce the observed specific SFR (sSFR) and the sSFR–stellar mass relation, which CW and NW fail to satisfy simultaneously. Winds also differ substantially in affecting the state of the intergalactic medium (IGM). The difference lies in the volume-filling factor of hot, high-metallicity gas, which is near unity for CW, while such gas remains confined in massive filaments for VW, and locked up in galaxies for NW. Such gas is nearly absent from the normal region. Although all wind models suffer from deficiencies, the VW model seems to be promising in correlating the outflow properties with those of host galaxies. Further constraints on the state of the IGM at high z are needed to separate different wind models.« less

A Deep NuSTAR Survey of M31: Compact object types in our Nearest Neighbor Galaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hornschemeier, Ann E.; Wik, Daniel R.; Yukita, Mihoko; Ptak, Andrew; Venters, Tonia M.; Lehmer, Bret; Maccarone, Thomas J.; Zezas, Andreas; Harrison, Fiona; Stern, Daniel; Williams, Benjamin F.; Vulic, Neven

2017-08-01

X-ray binaries (XRBs) trace young and old stellar populations in galaxies, and thus star formation rate and star formation history/stellar mass. X-ray emission from XRBs may be responsible for significant amounts of heating of the early Intergalactic Medium at Cosmic Dawn and may also play a significant role in reionization. Until recently, the E>10 keV (hard X-ray) emission from these populations could only be studied for XRBs in our own galaxy, where it is often difficult to measure accurate distances and thus luminosities. We have observed M31 in 4 NuSTAR fields for a total exposure of 1.4 Ms, covering the young stellar population in a swath of the disk (within the footprint of the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) Survey) and older populations in the bulge. We detected more than 100 sources in the 4-25 keV band, where hard band (12-25 keV) emission has allowed us to discriminate between black holes and neutron stars in different accretion states. The luminosity function of the hard band detected sources are compared to Swift/BAT and INTEGRAL-derived luminosity functions of the Milky Way population, which reveals an excess of luminous sources in M31 when correcting for star formation rate and stellar mass.

Ten More New Sightlines for the Study of Intergalactic Helium, and Hundreds of Far-Ultraviolet-Bright Quasars, from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Galaxy Evolution Explorer, and Hubble Space Telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Syphers, David; Anderson, Scott F.; Zheng, Wei; Haggard, Daryl; Meiksin, Avery; Schneider, Donald P.; York, Donald G.

2009-11-01

Absorption along quasar sightlines remains among the most sensitive direct measures of He II reionization in much of the intergalactic medium (IGM). Until recently, fewer than a half-dozen unobscured quasar sightlines suitable for the He II Gunn-Peterson test were known; although these handful demonstrated great promise, the small sample size limited confidence in cosmological inferences. We have recently added nine more such clean He II quasars, exploiting Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasar samples, broadband ultraviolet (UV) imaging from Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), and high-yield UV spectroscopic confirmations from Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Here we markedly expand this approach by cross-correlating SDSS DR7 and GALEX GR4+5 to catalog 428 SDSS and 165 other quasars with z > 2.78 having likely (~70%) GALEX detections, suggesting they are bright into the far-UV. Reconnaissance HST Cycle 16 Supplemental prism data for 29 of these new quasar-GALEX matches spectroscopically confirm 17 as indeed far-UV bright. At least 10 of these confirmations have clean sightlines all the way down to He II Lyα, substantially expanding the number of known clean He II quasars, and reaffirming the order of magnitude enhanced efficiency of our selection technique. Combined confirmations from this and our past programs yield more than 20 He II quasars, quintupling the sample. These provide substantial progress toward a sample of He II quasar sightlines large enough, and spanning a sufficient redshift range, to enable statistical IGM studies that may avoid individual object peculiarity and sightline variance. Our expanded catalog of hundreds of high-likelihood far-UV-bright QSOs additionally will be useful for understanding the extreme-UV properties of the quasars themselves. Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc

Simulations of dust in interacting galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jonsson, Patrik

This dissertation studies the effects of dust in N-body simulations of interacting galaxies. A new Monte-Carlo radiative-transfer code, Sunrise , is used in conjunction with hydrodynamic simulations. Results from radiative- transfer calculations in over 20 SPH simulations of disk-galaxy major mergers (Cox, 2004) are presented. Dust has a profound effect on the appearance of these simulations. At peak luminosities, 90% of the bolometric luminosity is absorbed by dust. The dust obscuration increases with luminosity in such a way that the brightness at UV/ visual wavelengths remains roughly constant. A general relationship between the fraction of energy absorbed and the ratio of bolometric luminosity to baryonic mass is found to hold in galaxies with metallicities >0.7 [Special characters omitted.] over a factor of 50 in mass. The accuracy to which the simulations describe observed starburst galaxies is evaluated by comparing them to observations by Meurer et al. (1999) and Heckman et al. (1998). The simulations are found to follow a relation similar to the IRX-b relation found by Meurer et al. (1999) when similar luminosity objects are considered. The highest-luminosity simulated galaxies depart from this relation and occupy the region where local LIRGs/ULIRGs are found. Comparing to the Heckman et al. (1998) sample, the simulations are found to obey the same relations between UV luminosity, UV color, IR luminosity, absolute blue magnitude and metallicity as the observations. This agreement is contingent on the presence of a realistic mass-metallicity relation, and Milky-Way-like dust. SMC-like dust results in far too red a UV continuum slope. On the whole, the agreement between the simulated and observed galaxies is impressive considering that the simulations have not been fit to agree with the observations, and we conclude that the simulations provide a realistic replication of the real universe. The simulations are used to study the performance of star

Probing star formation and feedback in dwarf galaxies. Integral field view of the blue compact galaxy Tololo 1937-423

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cairós, L. M.; González-Pérez, J. N.

2017-12-01

Context. Blue compact galaxies (BCG) are gas-rich, low-mass, small systems that form stars at unusually high rates. This makes them excellent laboratories for investigating the process of star-formation (SF) at galactic scales and the effects of massive stellar feedback on the interstellar (and intergalactic) medium. Aims: We analyzed the BCG Tololo 1937-423 using optical integral field spectroscopy to probe its morphology, stellar content, nebular excitation and ionization properties, and the kinematics of its warm ionized gas. Methods: Tololo 1937-423 was observed with the Visible Multi-Object Spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope. We took data in the wavelength range 4150-7400 Å, covering a field of view of 27″× 27″ on the sky with a spatial sampling of 0.̋67. From these data we built maps in the continuum and brighter emission lines, diagnostic line ratio maps, and velocity dispersion fields. We also generated the integrated spectrum of the main H II regions and young stellar clusters to determine reliable physical parameters and oxygen abundances. Results: We found that Tololo 1937-423 is currently undergoing an extended starburst. In the Hα maps we identified nine major clumps, aligned mostly northeast-southwest, and stretching to galactocentric distances ≥2 kpc. The galaxy presents a single continuum peak that is not cospatial with any knot in emission lines, indicating at least two relatively recent episodes of SF. The inhomogeneous dust distribution reachs its maximum (E(B-V) 0.97) roughly at the position of the continuum peak. We found shocked regions in the galaxy outer regions and at the edges of the SF knots. The oxygen abundance, 12 + log(O/H) 8.20 ± 0.1, is similar in all the SF regions, suggesting a chemically homogeneous ionized interstellar medium over spatial scales of several kpc. The ionized gas kinematics displays an overall regular rotation around a northwest-southeast axis, with a maximum velocity of 70 ± 7 km s-1. Conclusions

Building up the spin - orbit alignment of interacting galaxy pairs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moon, Jun-Sung; Yoon, Suk-Jin

2018-01-01

Galaxies are not just randomly distributed throughout space. Instead, they are in alignment over a wide range of scales from the cosmic web down to a pair of galaxies. Motivated by recent findings that the spin and the orbital angular momentum vectors of galaxy pairs tend to be parallel, we here investigate the spin - orbit orientation in close pairs using the Illustris cosmological simulation. We find that since z ~ 1, the parallel alignment has become progressively stronger with time through repetitive encounters. The pair Interactions are preferentially in prograde at z = 0 (over 5 sigma significance). The prograde fraction at z = 0 is larger for the pairs influenced more heavily by each other during their evolution. We find no correlation between the spin - orbit orientation and the surrounding large-scale structure. Our results favor the scenario in which the alignment in close pairs is caused by tidal interactions later on, rather than the primordial torquing by the large-scale structures.

Massive Star Clusters in Ongoing Galaxy Interactions: Clues to Cluster Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keel, William C.; Borne, Kirk D.

2003-09-01

We present HST WFPC2 observations, supplemented by ground-based Hα data, of the star-cluster populations in two pairs of interacting galaxies selected for being in very different kinds of encounters seen at different stages. Dynamical information and n-body simulations provide the details of encounter geometry, mass ratio, and timing. In NGC 5752/4 we are seeing a weak encounter, well past closest approach, after about 2.5×108 yr. The large spiral NGC 5754 has a normal population of disk clusters, while the fainter companion NGC 5752 exhibits a rich population of luminous clusters with a flatter luminosity function. The strong, ongoing encounter in NGC 6621/2, seen about 1.0×108 yr past closest approach between roughly equal-mass galaxies, has produced an extensive population of luminous clusters, particularly young and luminous in a small region between the two nuclei. This region is dynamically interesting, with such a strong perturbation in the velocity field that the rotation curve reverses sign. From these results, in comparison with other strongly interacting systems discussed in the literature, cluster formation requires a threshold level of perturbation, with stage of the interaction a less important factor. The location of the most active star formation in NGC 6621/2 draws attention to a possible role for the Toomre stability threshold in shaping star formation in interacting galaxies. The rich cluster populations in NGC 5752 and NGC 6621 show that direct contact between gas-rich galaxy disks is not a requirement to form luminous clusters and that they can be triggered by processes happening within a single galaxy disk (albeit triggered by external perturbations). Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

Filling the Void: A Comprehensive Survey of the Intergalactic Medium at z 1 Using STIS/COS Archival Spectra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khaire, Vikram

2017-08-01

There exists a large void in our understanding of the intergalactic medium (IGM) at z=0.5-1.5, spanning a significant cosmic time of 4 Gyr. This hole resulted from a paucity of near-UV QSO spectra, which were historically very expensive to obtain. However, with the advent of COS and the HST UV initiative, sufficient STIS/COS NUV spectra have finally become available, enabling the first statistical analyses. We propose a comprehensive study of the z 1 IGM using the Ly-alpha forest of 26 archival QSO spectra. This analysis will: (1) measure the distribution of HI absorbers to several percent precision down to log NHI < 13 to test our model of the IGM, and determine the extragalactic UV background (UVB) at that epoch; (2) measure the Ly-alpha forest power spectrum to 12%, providing another precision test of LCDM and our theory of the IGM; (3) measure the thermal state of the IGM, which reflects the balance of heating (photoheating, HI/HeII reionization) and cooling (Hubble expansion) of cosmic baryons, and directly verify the predicted cooldown of IGM gas after reionization for the first time; (4) generate high-quality reductions, coadds, and continuum fits that will be released to the public to enable other science cases. These results, along with our state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulations, and theoretical models of the UVB, will fill the 4 Gyr hole in our understanding of the IGM. When combined with existing HST and ground-based data from lower and higher z, they will lead to a complete, empirical description of the IGM from HI reionization to the present, spanning more than 10 Gyr of cosmic history, adding substantially to Hubble's legacy of discovery on the IGM.

Infrared Colors of Dwarf-Dwarf Galaxy Interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liss, Sandra; Stierwalt, Sabrina; Johnson, Kelsey; Patton, Dave; Kallivayalil, Nitya

2015-10-01

We request Spitzer Warm Mission IRAC Channel 1 & 2 imaging for a sample of 60 isolated dwarf galaxy pairs as a key component of a larger, multi-wavelength effort to understand the role low-mass mergers play in galaxy evolution. A systematic study of dwarf-dwarf mergers has never been done, and we wish to characterize the impact such interactions have on fueling star formation in the nearby universe. The Spitzer imaging proposed here will allow us to determine the extent to which the 3.6 and 4.5 mum bands are dominated by stellar light and investigate a) the extent to which interacting pairs show IR excess and b) whether the excess is related to the pair separation. Second, we will use this IR photometry to constrain the processes contributing to the observed color excess and scatter in each system. We will take advantage of the wealth of observations available in the Spitzer Heritage Archive for 'normal' non-interacting dwarfs by comparing the stellar populations of those dwarfs with the likely interacting dwarfs in our sample. Ultimately, we can combine the Spitzer imaging proposed here with our current, ongoing efforts to obtain groundbased optical photometry to model the star formation histories of these dwarfs and to help constrain the timescales and impact dwarf-dwarf mergers have on fueling star formation. The sensitivity and resolution offered by Spitzer are necessary to determine the dust properties of these interacting systems, and how these properties vary as a function of pair separation, mass ratio, and gas fraction.

Enhanced Abundances in Spiral Galaxies of the Pegasus I Cluster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robertson, Paul; Shields, Gregory A.; Blanc, Guillermo A.

2012-03-01

We study the influence of cluster environment on the chemical evolution of spiral galaxies in the Pegasus I cluster. We determine the gas-phase heavy element abundances of six galaxies in Pegasus derived from H II region spectra obtained from integral-field spectroscopy. These abundances are analyzed in the context of Virgo, whose spirals are known to show increasing interstellar metallicity as a function of H I deficiency. The galaxies in the Pegasus cluster, despite its lower density and velocity dispersion, also display gas loss due to interstellar-medium-intracluster-medium interaction, albeit to a lesser degree. Based on the abundances of three H I deficient spirals and two H I normal spirals, we observe a heavy element abundance offset of +0.13 ± 0.07 dex for the H I deficient galaxies. This abundance differential is consistent with the differential observed in Virgo for galaxies with a similar H I deficiency, and we observe a correlation between log (O/H) and the H I deficiency parameter DEF for the two clusters analyzed together. Our results suggest that similar environmental mechanisms are driving the heavy element enhancement in both clusters.

Rotation in [C II]-emitting gas in two galaxies at a redshift of 6.8

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smit, Renske; Bouwens, Rychard J.; Carniani, Stefano; Oesch, Pascal A.; Labbé, Ivo; Illingworth, Garth D.; van der Werf, Paul; Bradley, Larry D.; Gonzalez, Valentino; Hodge, Jacqueline A.; Holwerda, Benne W.; Maiolino, Roberto; Zheng, Wei

2018-01-01

The earliest galaxies are thought to have emerged during the first billion years of cosmic history, initiating the ionization of the neutral hydrogen that pervaded the Universe at this time. Studying this ‘epoch of reionization’ involves looking for the spectral signatures of ancient galaxies that are, owing to the expansion of the Universe, now very distant from Earth and therefore exhibit large redshifts. However, finding these spectral fingerprints is challenging. One spectral characteristic of ancient and distant galaxies is strong hydrogen-emission lines (known as Lyman-α lines), but the neutral intergalactic medium that was present early in the epoch of reionization scatters such Lyman-α photons. Another potential spectral identifier is the line at wavelength 157.4 micrometres of the singly ionized state of carbon (the [C II] λ = 157.74 μm line), which signifies cooling gas and is expected to have been bright in the early Universe. However, so far Lyman-α-emitting galaxies from the epoch of reionization have demonstrated much fainter [C II] luminosities than would be expected from local scaling relations, and searches for the [C II] line in sources without Lyman-α emission but with photometric redshifts greater than 6 (corresponding to the first billion years of the Universe) have been unsuccessful. Here we identify [C II] λ = 157.74 μm emission from two sources that we selected as high-redshift candidates on the basis of near-infrared photometry; we confirm that these sources are two galaxies at redshifts of z = 6.8540 ± 0.0003 and z = 6.8076 ± 0.0002. Notably, the luminosity of the [C II] line from these galaxies is higher than that found previously in star-forming galaxies with redshifts greater than 6.5. The luminous and extended [C II] lines reveal clear velocity gradients that, if interpreted as rotation, would indicate that these galaxies have similar dynamic properties to the turbulent yet rotation

Rotation in [C ii]-emitting gas in two galaxies at a redshift of 6.8.

PubMed

Smit, Renske; Bouwens, Rychard J; Carniani, Stefano; Oesch, Pascal A; Labbé, Ivo; Illingworth, Garth D; van der Werf, Paul; Bradley, Larry D; Gonzalez, Valentino; Hodge, Jacqueline A; Holwerda, Benne W; Maiolino, Roberto; Zheng, Wei

2018-01-10

The earliest galaxies are thought to have emerged during the first billion years of cosmic history, initiating the ionization of the neutral hydrogen that pervaded the Universe at this time. Studying this 'epoch of reionization' involves looking for the spectral signatures of ancient galaxies that are, owing to the expansion of the Universe, now very distant from Earth and therefore exhibit large redshifts. However, finding these spectral fingerprints is challenging. One spectral characteristic of ancient and distant galaxies is strong hydrogen-emission lines (known as Lyman-α lines), but the neutral intergalactic medium that was present early in the epoch of reionization scatters such Lyman-α photons. Another potential spectral identifier is the line at wavelength 157.4 micrometres of the singly ionized state of carbon (the [C ii] λ = 157.74 μm line), which signifies cooling gas and is expected to have been bright in the early Universe. However, so far Lyman-α-emitting galaxies from the epoch of reionization have demonstrated much fainter [C ii] luminosities than would be expected from local scaling relations, and searches for the [C ii] line in sources without Lyman-α emission but with photometric redshifts greater than 6 (corresponding to the first billion years of the Universe) have been unsuccessful. Here we identify [C ii] λ = 157.74 μm emission from two sources that we selected as high-redshift candidates on the basis of near-infrared photometry; we confirm that these sources are two galaxies at redshifts of z = 6.8540 ± 0.0003 and z = 6.8076 ± 0.0002. Notably, the luminosity of the [C ii] line from these galaxies is higher than that found previously in star-forming galaxies with redshifts greater than 6.5. The luminous and extended [C ii] lines reveal clear velocity gradients that, if interpreted as rotation, would indicate that these galaxies have similar dynamic properties to the turbulent yet rotation-dominated disks

UVES Investigates the Environment of a Very Remote Galaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2002-03-01

present time. More information The results described in this Press Release are presented in a research paper "The Lyman-alpha forest of a Lyman-Break Galaxy: VLT Spectra of MS 1512-cB58 at z = 2.724" by Sandra Savaglio, Nino Panagia and Paolo Padovani, appearing in the research journal "Astrophysical Journal" this month. Notes [1]: The team consists of Sandra Savaglio (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA, and Rome Observatory, Italy), Nino Panagia and Paolo Padovani (both European Space Agency and Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore) [2]: The measured redshift of MS 1512-cB58 is z = 2.724. In astronomy, the redshift denotes the fraction by which the lines in the spectrum of an object are shifted towards longer wavelengths. The observed redshift of a distant cloud or galaxy gives a direct estimate of the apparent recession velocity as caused by the universal expansion. Since the expansion rate increases with distance, the velocity is itself a function (the Hubble relation) of the distance to the object. The distances indicated in the text are based on an age of the Universe of 15 billion years. At the indicated redshift, the Lyman-alpha line of atomic hydrogen (rest wavelength 121.6 nm) is observed at 452.8 nm, i.e. in the blue spectral region. The Lyman-alpha absorption lines from intergalactic clouds along the line-of-sight (and at lower redshifts) are observed at shorter wavelengths. The lower limit of the UVES spectrum of MS 1512-cB58 (415 nm) corresponds to a Lyman-alpha redshift of 2.41, i.e. a distance of about 7.5 billion light-years. [3]: The importance of the Lyman-alpha line in absorption is that it is exquisitely sensitive to the presence of neutral hydrogen which only constitutes a small fraction of the total amount of hydrogen in the intergalactic medium (about 1/10,000). Still, the observed Ly-alpha forest is extremely rich. What we see is most likely the "tip of the iceberg" only and hydrogen in the intergalactic medium at high redshift is

Angular Distribution of Ly(alpha) Resonant Photons Emergent from Optically Thick Medium

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-02-26

cosmology : theory - intergalactic medium - radiation transfer - scattering 1Division of Applied Mathematics, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA...It definitely cannot be described by the Eddington approximation. The evolution of the angular distribution of resonant photons is not trivial. We

Ultra-compact High Velocity Clouds as Minihalos and Dwarf Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faerman, Yakov; Sternberg, Amiel; McKee, Christopher F.

2013-11-01

We present dark matter minihalo models for the Ultra-Compact, High-Velocity H I Clouds (UCHVCs) recently discovered in the 21 cm ALFALFA survey. We assume gravitational confinement of 104 K H I gas by flat-cored dark-matter subhalos within the Local Group. We show that for flat cores, typical (median) tidally stripped cosmological subhalos at redshift z = 0 have dark-matter masses of ~107 M ⊙ within the central 300 pc (independent of total halo mass), consistent with the "Strigari mass scale" observed in low-luminosity dwarf galaxies. Flat-cored subhalos also resolve the mass discrepancy between simulated and observed satellites around the Milky Way. For the UCHVCs, we calculate the photoionization-limited hydrostatic gas profiles for any distance-dependent total observed H I mass and predict the associated (projected) H I half-mass radii, assuming the clouds are embedded in distant (d >~ 300 kpc) and unstripped subhalos. For a typical UCHVC (0.9 Jy km s-1), we predict physical H I half-mass radii of 0.18 to 0.35 kpc (or angular sizes of 0.'6 to 2.'1) for distances ranging from 300 kpc to 2 Mpc. As a consistency check, we model the gas-rich dwarf galaxy Leo T, for which there is a well-resolved H I column density profile and a known distance (420 kpc). For Leo T, we find that a subhalo with M 300 = 8 (± 0.2) × 106 M ⊙ best fits the observed H I profile. We derive an upper limit of P HIM <~ 150 cm-3 K for the pressure of any enveloping hot intergalactic medium gas at the distance of Leo T. Our analysis suggests that some of the UCHVCs may in fact constitute a population of 21 cm-selected but optically faint dwarf galaxies in the Local Group.

DETERMINING THE NATURE OF THE EXTENDED H I STRUCTURE AROUND LITTLE THINGS DWARF GALAXY NGC 1569

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, Megan, E-mail: mjohnson@nrao.edu; National Radio Astronomy Observatory, P.O. Box 2, Green Bank, WV 24915

2013-06-15

This work presents an extended, neutral hydrogen emission map around Magellanic-type dwarf irregular galaxy (dIm) NGC 1569. In the spring of 2010, the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope was used to map a 9 Degree-Sign Multiplication-Sign 2 Degree-Sign region in H I line emission that includes NGC 1569 and IC 342 as well as two other dwarf galaxies. The primary objective for these observations was to search for structures potentially connecting NGC 1569 with IC 342 group members in order to trace previous interactions and thus, provide an explanation for the starburst and peculiar kinematics prevalent in NGC 1569.more » A large, half-degree diameter H I cloud was detected that shares the same position and velocity as NGC 1569. Also, two long structures were discovered that are reminiscent of intergalactic filaments extending out in a V-shaped manner from NGC 1569 toward UGCA 92, a nearby dwarf galaxy. These filamentary structures extend for about 1. Degree-Sign 5, which is 77 kpc at NGC 1569. There is a continuous velocity succession with the 0. Degree-Sign 5 H I cloud, filaments, and main body of the galaxy. The 0. Degree-Sign 5 H I cloud and filamentary structures may be foreground Milky Way, but are suggestive as possible remnants of an interaction between NGC 1569 and UGCA 92. The data also show two tidal tails extending from UGCA 86 and IC 342, respectively. These structures may be part of a continuous H I bridge but more data are needed to determine if this is the case.« less

Giant Galaxy Messier 87 finally sized up

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2009-05-01

Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have succeeded in measuring the size of giant galaxy Messier 87 and were surprised to find that its outer parts have been stripped away by still unknown effects. The galaxy also appears to be on a collision course with another giant galaxy in this very dynamic cluster. ESO PR Photo 19a/09 The Intercluster Light ESO PR Photo 19b/09 Intergalactic Planetary Nebulae ESO PR Photo 19c/09 The Virgo Cluster The new observations reveal that Messier 87's halo of stars has been cut short, with a diameter of about a million light-years, significantly smaller than expected, despite being about three times the extent of the halo surrounding our Milky Way [1]. Beyond this zone only few intergalactic stars are seen. "This is an unexpected result," says co-author Ortwin Gerhard. "Numerical models predict that the halo around Messier 87 should be several times larger than our observations have revealed. Clearly, something must have cut the halo off early on." The team used FLAMES, the super-efficient spectrograph at ESO's Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, to make ultra-precise measurements of a host of planetary nebulae in the outskirts of Messier 87 and in the intergalactic space within the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, to which Messier 87 belongs. FLAMES can simultaneously take spectra many sources, spread over an area of the sky about the size of the Moon. The new result is quite an achievement. The observed light from a planetary nebula in the Virgo Cluster is as faint as that from a 30-Watt light bulb at a distance of about 6 million kilometres (about 15 times the Earth-Moon distance). Furthermore, planetary nebulae are thinly spread through the cluster, so even FLAMES's wide field of view could only capture a few tens of nebulae at a time. "It is a little bit like looking for a needle in a haystack, but in the dark", says team member Magda Arnaboldi. "The FLAMES spectrograph on the VLT was the best instrument

The Merger History, AGN and Dwarf Galaxies of Hickson Compact Group 59

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Konstantopoulos, I. S.; Gallagher, S. C.; Fedotov, K.; Durrell, P. R.; Tzanavaris, P.; Hill, A. R.; Zabludoff, A. I.; Maier, M. L.; Elmegreen, D. M.; Charlton, J. C.;

The interaction between the intracluster medium and the cluster stellar content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sivanandam, Suresh

We study specific aspects of the relationship between the stellar content and the intracluster media (ICM) of galaxy clusters. First, we attempt to solve the long-standing difficulty in explaining the highly enriched ICM by including a previously unaccounted for stellar component: the intracluster stars. To determine the relative contributions of galactic and intracluster stars to the enrichment of the intracluster medium (ICM), we present X-ray surface brightness, temperature, and Fe abundance profiles for a set of twelve galaxy clusters for which we have extensive optical photometry. Assuming a standard IMF and simple chemical evolution model scaled to match the present-day cluster early-type SN Ia rate, the stars in the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) plus the intracluster stars (ICS) generate 31 +11-9 %, on average, of the observed ICM Fe within r500 (∼0.6 - r200 , the virial radius). Because the ICS typically contribute 80% of the BCG+ICS Fe, we conclude that the ICS are significant, yet often neglected, contributors to the ICM Fe within r500 . However, the BCG+ICS fall short of producing all the Fe, so metal loss from stars in other cluster galaxies must also contribute. By combining the enrichment from intracluster and galactic stars, we can account for all the observed Fe. These models require a galactic metal loss fraction (0.84 +0.11 -0.14 ) that, while large, is consistent with theoretical models of Fe mass not retained by galactic stars. The SN Ia rates, especially as a function of galaxy environment and redshift, remain a significant source of uncertainty in further constraining the metal loss fraction. Second, we study the effects of ram-pressure stripping on infalling galaxies using a warm molecular hydrogen (H2 ) as a tracer by carrying out a Spitzer infrared spectrograph (IRS) survey of four galaxies with signatures of ram-pressure stripping. We have discovered two galaxies, ESO 137-001 and NGC 4522, with warm htwo tails stretching 20 kpc and 4

Gas stripping in galaxy clusters: a new SPH simulation approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jáchym, P.; Palouš, J.; Köppen, J.; Combes, F.

2007-09-01

Aims:The influence of a time-varying ram pressure on spiral galaxies in clusters is explored with a new simulation method based on the N-body SPH/tree code GADGET. Methods: We have adapted the code to describe the interaction of two different gas phases, the diffuse hot intracluster medium (ICM) and the denser and colder interstellar medium (ISM). Both the ICM and ISM components are introduced as SPH particles. As a galaxy arrives on a highly radial orbit from outskirts to cluster center, it crosses the ICM density peak and experiences a time-varying wind. Results: Depending on the duration and intensity of the ISM-ICM interaction, early and late type galaxies in galaxy clusters with either a large or small ICM distribution are found to show different stripping efficiencies, amounts of reaccretion of the extra-planar ISM, and final masses. We compare the numerical results with analytical approximations of different complexity and indicate the limits of the Gunn & Gott simple stripping formula. Conclusions: Our investigations emphasize the role of the galactic orbital history to the stripping amount. We discuss the contribution of ram pressure stripping to the origin of the ICM and its metallicity. We propose gas accumulations like tails, filaments, or ripples to be responsible for stripping in regions with low overall ICM occurrence. Appendix A is only available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

Giant galaxy growing from recycled gas: ALMA maps the circumgalactic molecular medium of the Spiderweb in [C I

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emonts, B. H. C.; Lehnert, M. D.; Dannerbauer, H.; De Breuck, C.; Villar-Martín, M.; Miley, G. K.; Allison, J. R.; Gullberg, B.; Hatch, N. A.; Guillard, P.; Mao, M. Y.; Norris, R. P.

2018-06-01

The circumgalactic medium (CGM) of the massive Spiderweb Galaxy, a conglomerate of merging proto-cluster galaxies at z = 2.2, forms an enriched interface where feedback and recycling act on accreted gas. This is shown by observations of [C I], CO(1-0), and CO(4-3) performed with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array and Australia Telescope Compact Array. [C I] and CO(4-3) are detected across ˜50 kpc, following the distribution of previously detected low-surface-brightness CO(1-0) across the CGM. This confirms our previous results on the presence of a cold molecular halo. The central radio galaxy MRC 1138-262 shows a very high global L^'_CO(4-3)/L^'_CO(1-0) ˜ 1, suggesting that mechanisms other than FUV-heating by star formation prevail at the heart of the Spiderweb Galaxy. Contrary, the CGM has L^'_CO(4-3)/L^'_CO(1-0) and L^'_[C I]/L^'_CO(1-0) similar to the ISM of five galaxies in the wider proto-cluster, and its carbon abundance, X_[C I]/X_H_2, resembles that of the Milky Way and star-forming galaxies. The molecular CGM is thus metal-rich and not diffuse, confirming a link between the cold gas and in situ star formation. Thus, the Spiderweb Galaxy grows not directly through accretion of gas from the cosmic web, but from recycled gas in the CGM.

The spatial extent of star formation in interacting galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moreno, Jorge

2015-08-01

We employ a suite of 75 simulations of galaxies in idealized major mergers (stellar mass ratio ˜2.5:1), with a wide range of orbital parameters, to investigate the spatial extent of interaction-induced star formation. Although the total star formation in galaxy encounters is generally elevated relative to isolated galaxies, we find that this elevation is a combination of intense enhancements within the central kpc and moderately suppressed activity at larger galactocentric radii. The radial dependence of the star formation enhancement is stronger in the less massive galaxy than in the primary, and is also more pronounced in mergers of more closely aligned disc spin orientations. Conversely, these trends are almost entirely independent of the encounter’s impact parameter and orbital eccentricity. Our predictions of the radial dependence of triggered star formation, and specifically the suppression of star formation beyond kpc-scales, will be testable with the next generation of integral-field spectroscopic surveys.Co-authors: Paul Torrey, Sara Ellison, David Patton, Asa Bluck, Gunjan Bansal & Lars Hernquist

The Evolution of Normal Galaxy X-Ray Emission Through Cosmic History: Constraints from the 6 MS Chandra Deep Field-South

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lehmer, B. D.; Basu-Zych, A. R.; Mineo, S.; Brandt, W. N.; Eurfrasio, R. T.; Fragos, T.; Hornschemeier, A. E.; Lou, B.; Xue, Y. Q.; Bauer, F. E.;

Fluctuations of the intergalactic ionization field at redshift z ~ 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agafonova, I. I.; Levshakov, S. A.; Reimers, D.; Hagen, H.-J.; Tytler, D.

2013-04-01

Aims: To probe the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the ionizing background radiation at z ≲ 2 and to specify the sources contributing to the intergalactic radiation field. Methods: The spectrum of a bright quasar HS 1103+6416 (zem = 2.19) contains five successive metal-line absorption systems at zabs = 1.1923, 1.7193, 1.8873, 1.8916, and 1.9410. The systems are optically thin and reveal multiple lines of different metal ions with the ionization potentials lying in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) range (~1 Ryd to ~0.2 keV). For each system, the EUV SED of the underlying ionization field is reconstructed by means of a special technique developed for solving the inverse problem in spectroscopy. For the zabs = 1.8916 system, the analysis also involves the He I resonance lines of the Lyman series and the He iλ504 Å continuum, which are seen for the first time in any cosmic object except the Sun. Results: From one system to another, the SED of the ionizing continuum changes significantly, indicating that the intergalactic ionization field at z ≲ 2 fluctuates at the scale of at least Δz ~ 0.004. This is consistent with Δz ≲ 0.01 estimated from He II and H I Lyman-α forest measurements between the redshifts 2 and 3. A radiation intensity break by approximately an order of magnitude at E = 4 Ryd in SEDs restored for the zabs = 1.1923, 1.8873, 1.8916, and 1.9410 systems points to quasars as the main sources of the ionizing radiation. The SED variability is mostly caused by a small number of objects contributing at any given redshift to the ionizing background; at scales Δz ≳ 0.05, the influence of local radiation sources becomes significant. A remarkable SED restored for the zabs = 1.7193 system, with a sharp break shifted to E ~ 3.5 Ryd and a subsequent intensity decrease by ~1.5 dex, indicates a source with comparable inputs of both hard (active galactic nuclei, AGN) and soft (stellar) radiation components. Such a continuum can be emitted by (ultra

Jet-ISM Interaction in the Radio Galaxy 3C 293: Jet-driven Shocks Heat ISM to Power X-Ray and Molecular H2 Emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lanz, L.; Ogle, P. M.; Evans, D.; Appleton, P. N.; Guillard, P.; Emonts, B.

2015-03-01

We present a 70 ks Chandra observation of the radio galaxy 3C 293. This galaxy belongs to the class of molecular hydrogen emission galaxies (MOHEGs) that have very luminous emission from warm molecular hydrogen. In radio galaxies, the molecular gas appears to be heated by jet-driven shocks, but exactly how this mechanism works is still poorly understood. With Chandra, we observe X-ray emission from the jets within the host galaxy and along the 100 kpc radio jets. We model the X-ray spectra of the nucleus, the inner jets, and the X-ray features along the extended radio jets. Both the nucleus and the inner jets show evidence of 107 K shock-heated gas. The kinetic power of the jets is more than sufficient to heat the X-ray emitting gas within the host galaxy. The thermal X-ray and warm H2 luminosities of 3C 293 are similar, indicating similar masses of X-ray hot gas and warm molecular gas. This is consistent with a picture where both derive from a multiphase, shocked interstellar medium (ISM). We find that radio-loud MOHEGs that are not brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs), like 3C 293, typically have LH2/LX˜ 1 and MH2/MX˜ 1, whereas MOHEGs that are BCGs have LH2/LX˜ 0.01 and MH2/MX˜ 0.01. The more massive, virialized, hot atmosphere in BCGs overwhelms any direct X-ray emission from current jet-ISM interaction. On the other hand, LH2/LX˜ 1 in the Spiderweb BCG at z = 2, which resides in an unvirialized protocluster and hosts a powerful radio source. Over time, jet-ISM interaction may contribute to the establishment of a hot atmosphere in BCGs and other massive elliptical galaxies.

VLA observations of radio sources in interacting galaxy pairs in poor clusters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Batuski, David J.; Hanisch, Robert J.; Burns, Jack O.

1992-01-01

Observations of 16 radio sources in interacting galaxies in 14 poor clusters were made using the Very Large Array in the B configuration at lambda of 6 and 2 cm. These sources had been unresolved in earlier observations at lambda of 21 cm, and were chosen as a sample to determine which of three models for radio source formation actually pertains in interacting galaxies. From the analysis of this sample, the starburst model appears most successful, but the 'central monster' model could pertain in some cases.

Hot and Cold Galactic Gas in the NGC 2563 Galaxy Group

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rasmussen, Jesper; Bai, Xue-Ning; Mulchaey, John S.; van Gorkom, J. H.; Jeltema, Tesla E.; Zabludoff, Ann I.; Wilcots, Eric; Martini, Paul; Lee, Duane; Roberts, Timothy P.

2012-03-01

The role of environmentally induced gas stripping in driving galaxy evolution in groups remains poorly understood. Here we present extensive Chandra and Very Large Array mosaic observations of the hot and cold interstellar medium within the members of the nearby, X-ray bright NGC 2563 group, a prime target for studies of the role of gas stripping and interactions in relatively small host halos. Our observations cover nearly all group members within a projected radius of 1.15 Mpc (~1.4 R vir) of the group center, down to a limiting X-ray luminosity and H I mass of 3 × 1039 erg s-1 and 2 × 108 M ⊙, respectively. The X-ray data are consistent with efficient ram pressure stripping of the hot gas halos of early-type galaxies near the group core, but no X-ray tails are seen and the limited statistics preclude strong conclusions. The H I results suggest moderate H I mass loss from the group members when compared to similar field galaxies. Six of the 20 H I-detected group members show H I evidence of ongoing interactions with other galaxies or with the intragroup medium. Suggestive evidence is further seen for galaxies with close neighbors in position-velocity space to show relatively low H I content, consistent with tidal removal of H I. The results thus indicate removal of both hot and cold gas from the group members via a combination of ram pressure stripping and tidal interactions. We also find that 16 of the 20 H I detections occur on one side of the group, reflecting an unusual morphological segregation whose origin remains unclear.

Formation of the first galaxies under Population III stellar feedback

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeon, Myoungwon

2015-01-01

The first galaxies, which formed a few hundred million years after the big bang, are related to important cosmological questions. Given thatthey are thought to be the basic building blocks of large galaxies seen today, understanding their formation and properties is essentialto studying galaxy formation as a whole. In this dissertation talk, I will present the results of our highly-resolved cosmological ab-initio simulations to understand the assembly process of first galaxies under the feedback from the preceding generations of first stars, the so-called Population III (Pop III). The first stars formed at z≲30 in dark matter (DM) minihalos with M_{vir}=10^5-10^6Msun, predominately via molecular hydrogen (H_2) cooling. Radiation from Pop III stars dramatically altered the gas within their host minihalos, through photoionization, photoheating, and photoevaporation. Once a Pop III star explodes as a supernova (SN), heavy elements are dispersed, enriching the interstellar (ISM) and intergalactic medium (IGM), thus initiating the process of chemical evolution. I will begin by presenting how the SN explosion of the first stars influences early cosmic history, specifically assessing the time delay in further star formation and tracing the evolution of metal-enriched gas until the second episode star formation happens. These results will show the role of Pop III supernovae on the star formation transition from Pop III to Population II. Additionally, the more distant, diffuse IGM was heated by X-rays emitted by accreting black holes (BHs), or high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs), both remnants of Pop III stars. I will present results of a series of simulations where we study the impact of X-ray feedback from BHs and HMXBs on the star formation history in the early universe, and discuss the resulting implications on reionization. I will also present the role of X-rays on the early BH growth, providing constraints on models for supermassive black hole formation. Finally, I

No evidence for Lyman α emission in spectroscopy of z > 7 candidate galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caruana, Joseph; Bunker, Andrew J.; Wilkins, Stephen M.; Stanway, Elizabeth R.; Lacy, Mark; Jarvis, Matt J.; Lorenzoni, Silvio; Hickey, Samantha

2012-12-01

We present Gemini/Gemini Near Infrared Spectrograph (GNIRS) spectroscopic observations of four z-band (z ≈ 7) dropout galaxies and Very Large Telescope (VLT)/XSHOOTER observations of one z-band dropout and three Y-band (z ≈ 8-9) dropout galaxies in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, which were selected with Wide Field Camera 3 imaging on the Hubble Space Telescope. We find no evidence of Lyman α emission with a typical 5σ sensitivity of 5 × 10-18 erg cm-2 s-1, and use the upper limits on Lyman α flux and the broad-band magnitudes to constrain the rest-frame equivalent widths for this line emission. Accounting for incomplete spectral coverage, we survey 3.0 z-band dropouts and 2.9 Y-band dropouts to a Lyman α rest-frame equivalent width limit >120 Å (for an unresolved emission line); for an equivalent width limit of 50 Å the effective numbers of drop-outs surveyed fall to 1.2 z-band drop-outs and 1.5 Y-band drop-outs. A simple model where the fraction of high rest-frame equivalent width emitters follows the trend seen at z = 3-6.5 is inconsistent with our non-detections at z = 7-9 at the ≈1σ level for spectrally unresolved lines, which may indicate that a significant neutral H I fraction in the intergalactic medium suppresses the Lyman α line in z-drop and Y-drop galaxies at z > 7. Based on observations collected at the European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, Chile, as part of programme 086.A-0968(B).

STAR Formation Histories Across the Interacting Galaxy NGC 6872, the Largest-Known Spiral

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eufrasio, Rafael T.; Dwek, E.; Arendt, RIchard G.; deMello, Duilia F.; Gadotti, DImitri A.; Urrutia-Viscarra, Fernanda; deOliveira, CLaudia Mendes; Benford, Dominic J.

2014-01-01

NGC6872, hereafter the Condor, is a large spiral galaxy that is interacting with its closest companion, the S0 galaxy IC 4970. The extent of the Condor provides an opportunity for detailed investigation of the impact of the interaction on the current star formation rate and its history across the galaxy, on the age and spatial distribution of its stellar population, and on the mechanism that drives the star formation activity. To address these issues we analyzed the far-ultraviolet (FUV) to near-infrared (near-IR) spectral energy distribution of seventeen 10 kpc diameter regions across the galaxy, and derived their star formation history, current star formation rate, and stellar population and mass. We find that most of the star formation takes place in the extended arms, with very little star formation in the central 5 kpc of the galaxy, in contrast to what was predicted from previous numerical simulations. There is a trend of increasing star formation activity with distance from the nucleus of the galaxy, and no evidence for a recent increase in the current star formation rate due to the interaction. The nucleus itself shows no significant current star formation activity. The extent of the Condor also provides an opportunity to test the applicability of a single standard prescription for conversion of the FUV + IR (22 micrometer) intensities to a star formation rate for all regions. We find that the conversion factor differs from region to region, arising from regional differences in the stellar populations.

Dark-ages reionization and galaxy formation simulation - XIII. AGN quenching of high-redshift star formation in ZF-COSMOS-20115

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Yuxiang; Mutch, Simon J.; Duffy, Alan R.; Geil, Paul M.; Poole, Gregory B.; Mesinger, Andrei; Wyithe, J. Stuart B.

2017-11-01

Massive quiescent galaxies (MQGs) are thought to have formed stars rapidly at early times followed by a long period of quiescence. The recent discovery of a MQG, ZF-COSMOS-20115 at z ˜ 4, only 1.5 Gyr after the big bang, places new constraints on galaxy growth and the role of feedback in early star formation. Spectroscopic follow-up confirmed ZF-COSMOS-20115 as a MQG at z = 3.717 with an estimated stellar mass of ˜1011 M⊙, showing no evidence of recent star formation. We use the Meraxes semi-analytic model to investigate how ZF-COSMOS-20115 analogues build stellar mass, and why they become quiescent. We identify three analogue galaxies with similar properties to ZF-COSMOS-20115. We find that ZF-COSMOS-20115 is likely hosted by a massive halo with virial mass of ˜1013 M⊙, having been through significant mergers at early times. These merger events drove intense growth of the nucleus, which later prevented cooling and quenched star formation. Therefore, ZF-COSMOS-20115 is unlikely to have experienced strong or extended star formation events at z < 3.7. We find that the analogues host the most massive black holes in our simulation and were luminous quasars at z ˜ 5, indicating that ZF-COSMOS-20115 and other MQGs may be the descendants of high-redshift quasars. In addition, the model suggests that ZF-COSMOS-20115 formed in a region of intergalactic medium that was reionized early.

The EAGLE simulations: atomic hydrogen associated with galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crain, Robert A.; Bahé, Yannick M.; Lagos, Claudia del P.; Rahmati, Alireza; Schaye, Joop; McCarthy, Ian G.; Marasco, Antonino; Bower, Richard G.; Schaller, Matthieu; Theuns, Tom; van der Hulst, Thijs

2017-02-01

We examine the properties of atomic hydrogen (H I) associated with galaxies in the Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments (EAGLE) simulations of galaxy formation. EAGLE's feedback parameters were calibrated to reproduce the stellar mass function and galaxy sizes at z = 0.1, and we assess whether this calibration also yields realistic H I properties. We estimate the self-shielding density with a fitting function calibrated using radiation transport simulations, and correct for molecular hydrogen with empirical or theoretical relations. The `standard-resolution' simulations systematically underestimate H I column densities, leading to an H I deficiency in low-mass (M⋆ < 1010 M⊙) galaxies and poor reproduction of the observed H I mass function. These shortcomings are largely absent from EAGLE simulations featuring a factor of 8 (2) better mass (spatial) resolution, within which the H I mass of galaxies evolves more mildly from z = 1 to 0 than in the standard-resolution simulations. The largest volume simulation reproduces the observed clustering of H I systems, and its dependence on H I richness. At fixed M⋆, galaxies acquire more H I in simulations with stronger feedback, as they become associated with more massive haloes and higher infall rates. They acquire less H I in simulations with a greater star formation efficiency, since the star formation and feedback necessary to balance the infall rate is produced by smaller gas reservoirs. The simulations indicate that the H I of present-day galaxies was acquired primarily by the smooth accretion of ionized, intergalactic gas at z ≃ 1, which later self-shields, and that only a small fraction is contributed by the reincorporation of gas previously heated strongly by feedback. H I reservoirs are highly dynamic: over 40 per cent of H I associated with z = 0.1 galaxies is converted to stars or ejected by z = 0.

High Resolution X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy: Distribution of Matter in and around Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schulz, Norbert; MIT/CAT Team

2015-10-01

The chemical evolution of the Universe embraces aspects that reachdeep into modern astrophysics and cosmology. We want to know how present and past matter is affected by various levels and types of nucleo-synthesis and stellar evolution. Three major categories were be identified: 1. The study of pre-mordial star formation including periods of super-massive black hole formation, 2. The embedded evolution of the intergalactic medium IGM, 3. The status and evolution of stars and the interstellar medium ISM in galaxies. Today a fourth category relates to our understanding of dark matter in relationwith these three categories. The X-ray band is particularly sensitive to K- and L-shell absorption and scattering from high abundant elements like C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Si, S,Ar, Ca, Fe, and Ni. Like the Lyman alpha forest in the optical band, absorbers in the IGM produce an X-ray line forest along the line of sight in the X-rayspectrum of a background quasar. Similary bright X-ray sources within galaxies and the Milky Way produce a continuum, which is being absorbed by elements invarious phases of the ISM. High resolution X-ray absorption surveys are possible with technologies ready for flight within decade. == high efficiency X-ray optics with optical performance 3== high resolution X-ray gratings with R 3000 for E 1.5 keV== X-ray micro-calorimeters with R 2000 for E 1.5 keV. The vision for the next decade needs to lead to means and strategies which allows us to perform such absorption surveys as effectively as surveys are now or in very near future quite common in astronomy pursued in other wave length bands such as optical, IR, and sub-mm.

What triggers starbursts in dwarf galaxies?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Kelsey

While the processes regulating star formation and the interstellar medium in massive interacting galaxies have been studied extensively, the extent to which these processes occur in the shallower gravitational potential wells of lower mass dwarf galaxies is relatively unconstrained. While dwarf galaxies are known to undergo starbursts (Heckman et al. 1998; Johnson et al. 2000), the origins of these bursts remain unclear, and interactions and mergers with other dwarfs have not been ruled out (Lelli et al. 2012; Koleva et al. 2014). These gas-rich dwarf galaxies in the nearby universe are expected to offer glimpses of star formation modes at high redshift with their low metal content and large amounts of fuel for forming stars. Given that dwarf-dwarf mergers dominate the merger rate at any given redshift (i.e. De Lucia et al. 2006; Fakhouri et al. 2010), this lack of observational constraints leaves a significant mode of galaxy evolution in the universe mostly unexplored. While a few individual dwarf mergers/pairs have been observed (e.g., Henize 2-10: Reines et al. 2012; NGC4490: Clemens et al. 1998; NGC3448: Noreau & Kronberg 1986; IIZw40: Lequeux et al. 1980), a systematic study of the star formation histories of interacting dwarfs as a population has never been done. We propose to obtain and further process near- and far-ultraviolet (NUV/FUV), nearinfrared (NIR), and mid-infrared (MIR) imaging for a sample of 58 dwarf galaxy pairs (116 dwarfs) and 348 unpaired dwarfs (analogs matched in stellar mass, redshift, and local density enhancement) using the NASA archives for the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX; Martin et al. 2003), the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS; Skrutskie et al. 2006), and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE; Wright et al. 2010) missions. We aim to characterize the impact interactions have on fueling star formation in the nearby universe for a complete sample of dwarf galaxy pairs caught in a variety of interaction stages from the Ti

Cosmological evolution of supermassive black holes in the centres of galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kapinska, Anna D.

2012-06-01

Radio galaxies and quasars are among the largest and most powerful single objects known and are believed to have had a significant impact on the evolving Universe and its large scale structure. Their jets inject a significant amount of energy into the surrounding medium, hence they can provide useful information in the study of the density and evolution of the intergalactic and intracluster medium. The jet activity is also believed to regulate the growth of massive galaxies via the AGN feedback. In this thesis I explore the intrinsic and extrinsic physical properties of the population of Fanaroff-Riley II (FR II) objects, i.e. their kinetic luminosities, lifetimes, and central densities of their environments. In particular, the radio and kinetic luminosity functions of these powerful radio sources are investigated using the complete, flux limited radio catalogues of 3CRR and BRL. I construct multidimensional Monte Carlo simulations using semi-analytical models of FR II source time evolution to create artificial samples of radio galaxies. Unlike previous studies, I compare radio luminosity functions found with both the observed and simulated data to explore the best-fitting fundamental source parameters. The Monte Carlo method presented here allows one to: (i) set better limits on the predicted fundamental parameters of which confidence intervals estimated over broad ranges are presented, and (ii) generate the most plausible underlying parent populations of these radio sources. Moreover, I allow the source physical properties to co-evolve with redshift, and I find that all the investigated parameters most likely undergo cosmological evolution; however these parameters are strongly degenerate, and independent constraints are necessary to draw more precise conclusions. Furthermore, since it has been suggested that low luminosity FR IIs may be distinct from their powerful equivalents, I attempt to investigate fundamental properties of a sample of low redshift, low

A uniform contribution of core-collapse and type Ia supernovae to the chemical enrichment pattern in the outskirts of the Virgo Cluster

DOE PAGES

Simionescu, A.; Werner, N.; Urban, O.; ...

2015-09-24

We present the first measurements of the abundances of α-elements (Mg, Si, and S) extending out beyond the virial radius of a cluster of galaxies. Our results, based on Suzaku Key Project observations of the Virgo Cluster, show that the chemical composition of the intracluster medium is consistent with being constant on large scales, with a flat distribution of the Si/Fe, S/Fe, and Mg/Fe ratios as a function of radius and azimuth out to 1.4 Mpc (1.3 r 200). Chemical enrichment of the intergalactic medium due solely to core-collapse supernovae (SNcc) is excluded with very high significance; instead, the measuredmore » metal abundance ratios are generally consistent with the solar value. The uniform metal abundance ratios observed today are likely the result of an early phase of enrichment and mixing, with both SNcc and SNe Ia contributing to the metal budget during the period of peak star formation activity at redshifts of 2–3. Furthermore, we estimate the ratio between the number of SNe Ia and the total number of supernovae enriching the intergalactic medium to be between 12% and 37%, broadly consistent with the metal abundance patterns in our own Galaxy or with the SN Ia contribution estimated for the cluster cores.« less

A UNIFORM CONTRIBUTION OF CORE-COLLAPSE AND TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE TO THE CHEMICAL ENRICHMENT PATTERN IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE VIRGO CLUSTER

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Simionescu, A.; Ichinohe, Y.; Werner, N.

2015-10-01

We present the first measurements of the abundances of α-elements (Mg, Si, and S) extending out beyond the virial radius of a cluster of galaxies. Our results, based on Suzaku Key Project observations of the Virgo Cluster, show that the chemical composition of the intracluster medium is consistent with being constant on large scales, with a flat distribution of the Si/Fe, S/Fe, and Mg/Fe ratios as a function of radius and azimuth out to 1.4 Mpc (1.3 r{sub 200}). Chemical enrichment of the intergalactic medium due solely to core-collapse supernovae (SNcc) is excluded with very high significance; instead, the measuredmore » metal abundance ratios are generally consistent with the solar value. The uniform metal abundance ratios observed today are likely the result of an early phase of enrichment and mixing, with both SNcc and SNe Ia contributing to the metal budget during the period of peak star formation activity at redshifts of 2–3. We estimate the ratio between the number of SNe Ia and the total number of supernovae enriching the intergalactic medium to be between 12% and 37%, broadly consistent with the metal abundance patterns in our own Galaxy or with the SN Ia contribution estimated for the cluster cores.« less

Secular Evolution of Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Falcón-Barroso, Jesús; Knapen, Johan H.

2013-10-01

Preface; 1. Secular evolution in disk galaxies John Kormendy; 2. Galaxy morphology Ronald J. Buta; 3. Dynamics of secular evolution James Binney; 4. Bars and secular evolution in disk galaxies: theoretical input E. Athanassoula; 5. Stellar populations Reynier F. Peletier; 6. Star formation rate indicators Daniela Calzetti; 7. The evolving interstellar medium Jacqueline van Gorkom; 8. Evolution of star formation and gas Nick Z. Scoville; 9. Cosmological evolution of galaxies Isaac Shlosman.

Searching for Lyman-alpha Emitters as a Probe of Cosmic Reionization and Peering Inside Galaxies in the First Two Billion Years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, Intae; Finkelstein, Steven; CANDELS team

2018-01-01

In the reionization era an immediately accessible method for studying the intergalactic medium is to measure the equivalent width distribution of Lyman-alpha emission from galaxies with follow-up spectroscopy. To search for Lyman-alpha emission from galaxies at z ~ 5-8, we perform spectroscopic observations of candidate galaxies from the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS). We utilize data from the Keck DEIMOS (optical) and MOSFIRE (near-infrared) spectrographs, ensuring a comprehensive wavelength coverage of Lyman-alpha emission at z ~ 5-8. We have a total of 1170 object-hours of spectroscopic integration of galaxies at z > 5: 118 galaxies with DEIMOS and 69 galaxies with MOSFIRE. The equivalent width distribution of Lyman-alpha emission is constrained with the number of detected objects from our dataset by constructing detailed simulations of mock emission lines, which consider observational conditions and the photometric redshift probability distribution function. We present our robust measure of the evolution of the Lyman-alpha emission equivalent width distribution at z ~ 5-8.Understanding what drives star-formation quenching in the early universe is a long-standing puzzle. To reveal the hidden relation of quenching with galaxy structural properties, particularly central stellar mass density, we perform the first spatially resolved stellar population study of galaxies at z ~ 4, utilizing the CANDELS imaging data set over the GOODS-S field. We examine 166 photometric-redshift-selected galaxies at 3.5 < z < 4.0 with additional deep K-band survey data from the HAWK-I UDS and GOODS Survey which covers the 4000Å break at these redshifts. We estimate the stellar mass, star formation rate, and dust extinction for galaxy inner and outer regions via spatially resolved spectral energy distribution fitting based on a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm. By comparing specific star formation rates (sSFRs) between inner and outer parts

The FourStar Galaxy Evolution Survey (ZFOURGE): Ultraviolet to Far-infrared Catalogs, Medium-bandwidth Photometric Redshifts with Improved Accuracy, Stellar Masses, and Confirmation of Quiescent Galaxies to z ˜ 3.5

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Straatman, Caroline M. S.; Spitler, Lee R.; Quadri, Ryan F.; Labbé, Ivo; Glazebrook, Karl; Persson, S. Eric; Papovich, Casey; Tran, Kim-Vy H.; Brammer, Gabriel B.; Cowley, Michael; Tomczak, Adam; Nanayakkara, Themiya; Alcorn, Leo; Allen, Rebecca; Broussard, Adam; van Dokkum, Pieter; Forrest, Ben; van Houdt, Josha; Kacprzak, Glenn G.; Kawinwanichakij, Lalitwadee; Kelson, Daniel D.; Lee, Janice; McCarthy, Patrick J.; Mehrtens, Nicola; Monson, Andrew; Murphy, David; Rees, Glen; Tilvi, Vithal; Whitaker, Katherine E.

2016-10-01

The FourStar galaxy evolution survey (ZFOURGE) is a 45 night legacy program with the FourStar near-infrared camera on Magellan and one of the most sensitive surveys to date. ZFOURGE covers a total of 400 arcmin2 in cosmic fields CDFS, COSMOS and UDS, overlapping CANDELS. We present photometric catalogs comprising >70,000 galaxies, selected from ultradeep K s -band detection images (25.5-26.5 AB mag, 5σ, total), and >80% complete to K s < 25.3-25.9 AB. We use 5 near-IR medium-bandwidth filters (J 1, J 2, J 3, H s , H l ) as well as broad-band K s at 1.05-2.16 μm to 25-26 AB at a seeing of ˜0.″5. Each field has ancillary imaging in 26-40 filters at 0.3-8 μm. We derive photometric redshifts and stellar population properties. Comparing with spectroscopic redshifts indicates a photometric redshift uncertainty σ z = 0.010, 0.009, and 0.011 in CDFS, COSMOS, and UDS. As spectroscopic samples are often biased toward bright and blue sources, we also inspect the photometric redshift differences between close pairs of galaxies, finding σ z,pairs = 0.01-0.02 at 1 < z < 2.5. We quantify how σ z,pairs depends on redshift, magnitude, spectral energy distribution type, and the inclusion of FourStar medium bands. σ z,pairs is smallest for bright, blue star-forming samples, while red star-forming galaxies have the worst σ z,pairs. Including FourStar medium bands reduces σ z,pairs by 50% at 1.5 < z < 2.5. We calculate star formation rates (SFRs) based on ultraviolet and ultradeep far-IR Spitzer/MIPS and Herschel/PACS data. We derive rest-frame U - V and V - J colors, and illustrate how these correlate with specific SFR and dust emission to z = 3.5. We confirm the existence of quiescent galaxies at z ˜ 3, demonstrating their SFRs are suppressed by > ×15. This paper contains data gathered with the 6.5 meter Magellan Telescopes located at Las Campanas observatory, Chile

Simulating the UV escape fractions from molecular cloud populations in star-forming dwarf and spiral galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howard, Corey S.; Pudritz, Ralph E.; Harris, William E.; Klessen, Ralf S.

2018-04-01

The escape of ultraviolet photons from the densest regions of the interstellar medium (ISM) - giant molecular clouds (GMCs) - is a poorly constrained parameter which is vital to understanding the ionization of the ISM and the intergalactic medium. We characterize the escape fraction, fesc,GMC, from a suite of individual GMC simulations with masses in the range 104-6 M⊙ using the adaptive-mesh refinement code FLASH. We find significantly different fesc,GMC depending on the GMC mass that can reach >90 per cent in the evolution of 5 × 104 and 105 M⊙ clouds or remain low at ˜5 per cent for most of the lifetime of more massive GMCs. All clouds show fluctuations over short, sub-Myr time-scales produced by flickering H II regions. We combine our results to calculate the total escape fraction (fesc,tot) from GMC populations in dwarf starburst and spiral galaxies by randomly drawing clouds from a GMC mass distribution (dN/dM ∝ Mα, where α is either -1.5 or -2.5) over fixed time intervals. We find typical fesc,tot values of 8 per cent for both the dwarf and spiral models. The fluctuations of fesc,tot, however, are much larger for the dwarf models with values as high as 90 per cent. The photons escaping from the 5 × 104 and 105 M⊙ GMCs are the dominant contributors to fesc,tot in all cases. We also show that the accompanying star formation rates (SFRs) of our model (˜2 × 10-2 and 0.73 M⊙yr-1) are consistent with observations of SFRs in dwarf starburst and spiral galaxies, respectively.

The Formation and Physical Origin of Highly Ionized Cooling Gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bordoloi, Rongmon; Wagner, Alexander Y.; Heckman, Timothy M.; Norman, Colin A.

2017-10-01

We present a simple model that explains the origin of warm, diffuse gas seen primarily as highly ionized absorption-line systems in the spectra of background sources. We predict the observed column densities of several highly ionized transitions such as O VI, O vii, Ne viii, N v, and Mg x, and we present a unified comparison of the model predictions with absorption lines seen in the Milky Way disk, Milky Way halo, starburst galaxies, the circumgalactic medium, and the intergalactic medium at low and high redshifts. We show that diffuse gas seen in such diverse environments can be simultaneously explained by a simple model of radiatively cooling gas. We show that most such absorption-line systems are consistent with being collisionally ionized, and we estimate the maximum-likelihood temperature of the gas in each observation. This model satisfactorily explains why O VI is regularly observed around star-forming low-z L* galaxies, and why N v is rarely seen around the same galaxies. We further present some consequences of this model in quantifying the dynamics of the cooling gas around galaxies and predict the shock velocities associated with such flows. A unique strength of this model is that while it has only one free (but physically well-constrained) parameter, it nevertheless successfully reproduces the available data on O VI absorbers in the interstellar, circumgalactic, intragroup, and intergalactic media, as well as the available data on other absorption lines from highly ionized species.

Starburst in the Interacting HII Galaxy II Zw 40 and in Non-Interacting HII Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Telles, E.

2010-06-01

In this poster, I summarize the results of our integral field spectroscopic observations of the nearby prototype of HII galaxies, II Zw 40. Observations with GMOS-IFU on GEMINI-North in the optical allowed us to make a detailed kinematic picture of the central starburst, while SINFONI with adaptive optics on the ESO-VLT gave us a near-IR view of the interplay between the ISM phases. Here, I also address the question that not all starbursts require an external trigger such as a galaxy-galaxy encounter, as it seems to be the case for a fraction of low luminosity HII galaxies. We speculate that these may form stars spontaneously like "popcorn in a pan".

First Spectroscopic Confirmations of z ∼ 7.0 Ly α Emitting Galaxies in the LAGER Survey

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hu, Weida; Wang, Junxian; Kang, Wenyong

Narrowband imaging is a highly successful approach for finding large numbers of high-redshift Ly α emitting galaxies (LAEs) up to z ∼ 6.6. However, at z ≳ 7 there are as of yet only three narrowband selected LAEs with spectroscopic confirmations (two at z ∼ 6.9–7.0, one at z ∼ 7.3), which hinders extensive studies on cosmic reionization and galaxy evolution at this key epoch. We have selected 23 candidate z ∼ 6.9 LAEs in COSMOS field with the large area narrowband survey Lyman-Alpha Galaxies at the End of Reionization (LAGER). In this work, we present spectroscopic follow-up observations ofmore » 12 candidates using the Inamori Magellan Areal Camera and Spectrograph on Magellan. For nine of these, the observations are sufficiently deep to detect the expected lines. Ly α emission lines are identified in six sources (yielding a success rate of 2/3), including three luminous LAEs with Ly α luminosities of L {sub Lyα} ∼ 10{sup 43.5} erg s{sup −1}, the highest among known spectroscopically confirmed galaxies at ≳7.0. This triples the sample size of spectroscopically confirmed narrowband selected LAEs at z ≳ 7, and confirms the bright-end bump in the Ly α luminosity function we previously derived based on the photometric sample, supporting a patchy reionization scenario. Two luminous LAEs appear physically linked with a projected distance of 1.1 pMpc and velocity difference of ∼170 km s{sup −1}. They likely sit in a common ionized bubble produced by themselves or with close neighbors, which reduces the intergalactic medium attenuation of Ly α . A tentative narrow N v λ 1240 line is seen in one source, hinting at activity of a central massive black hole with metal-rich line-emitting gas.« less

Ionized gas outflow in the isolated S0 galaxy NGC 4460

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moiseev, Alexei; Karachentsev, Igor; Kaisin, Serafim

2010-04-01

We used integral-field and long-slit spectroscopy to study a bright extended nebulosity recently discovered in the isolated lenticular galaxy NGC 4460 during an Hα survey of nearby galaxies. An analysis of archival Sloan Digital Sky Survey, GALEX and Hubble Space Telescope images indicates that current star formation is entirely concentrated in the central kiloparsec of the galaxy disc. The observed ionized gas parameters (morphology, kinematics and ionization state) can be explained by a gas outflow above the plane of the galaxy, caused by star formation in the circumnuclear region. Galactic wind parameters in NGC 4460 (outflow velocity, total kinetic energy) are several times smaller, compared with the known galactic wind in NGC 253, which is explained by the substantially lower total star formation rate. We discuss the cause of the star formation processes in NGC 4460 and in two other known isolated lenticular (S0) and elliptical (E) galaxies of the Local Volume: NGC 404 and 855. We provide evidence suggesting that the feeding of isolated galaxies by intergalactic gas on a cosmological time-scale is a steady process without significant variations. Based on observations collected with the 6-m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which is operated under the financial support of the Science Department of Russia (registration number 01-43). E-mail: moisav@gmail.com

Lyα-emitting galaxies as a probe of reionization: large-scale bubble morphology and small-scale absorbers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kakiichi, Koki; Dijkstra, Mark; Ciardi, Benedetta; Graziani, Luca

2016-12-01

The visibility of Lyα-emitting galaxies during the Epoch of Reionization is controlled by both diffuse H I patches in large-scale bubble morphology and small-scale absorbers. To investigate their impacts on Lyα transfer, we apply a novel combination of analytic modelling and cosmological hydrodynamical, radiative transfer simulations to three reionization models: (I) the `bubble' model, where only diffuse H I outside ionized bubbles is present; (II) the `web' model, where H I exists only in overdense self-shielded gas; and (III) the hybrid `web-bubble' model. The three models can explain the observed Lyα luminosity function equally well, but with very different H I fractions. This confirms a degeneracy between the ionization topology of the intergalactic medium (IGM) and the H I fraction inferred from Lyα surveys. We highlight the importance of the clustering of small-scale absorbers around galaxies. A combined analysis of the Lyα luminosity function and the Lyα fraction can break this degeneracy and provide constraints on the reionization history and its topology. Constraints can be improved by analysing the full MUV-dependent redshift evolution of the Lyα fraction of Lyman break galaxies. We find that the IGM-transmission probability distribution function is unimodal for bubble models and bimodal in web models. Comparing our models to observations, we infer that the neutral fraction at z ˜ 7 is likely to be of the order of tens of per cent when interpreted with bubble or web-bubble models, with a conservative lower limit ˜1 per cent when interpreted with web models.

Observing RAM Pressure Stripping and Morphological Transformation in the Coma Cluster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gregg, Michael; West, Michael

2017-07-01

The two largest spirals in the Coma cluster, NGC4911 and NGC4921, are being vigorously ram-pressure stripped by the hot intracluster medium. Our HST ACS and WFC3 images have revealed galactic scale shock fronts, giant "Pillars of Creation", rivulets of dust, and spatially coherent star formation in these grand design spirals. We have now obtained HST WFC3 imaging of five additional large Coma spirals to search for and investigate the effects of ram pressure stripping across the wider cluster environment. The results are equally spectacular as the first two examples. The geometry of the interactions in some cases allows an estimation of the various time scales involved, including gas flows out of the disk leading to creation of the ICM, and the attendant triggered star formation in the galaxy disks. The global star formation patterns yield insights into the spatial and temporal ISM-ICM interactions driving cluster galaxy evolution and ultimately transforming morphologies from spiral to S0. These processes were much more common in the early Universe when the intergalactic and intracluster components were initially created from stripping and destruction of member galaxies.

Intergalactic Extinction of High Energy Gamma-Rays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stecker, F. W.

1998-01-01

We discuss the determination of the intergalactic pair-production absorption coefficient as derived by Stecker and De Jager by making use of a new empirically based calculation of the spectral energy distribution of the intergalactic infrared radiation field as given by Malkan and Stecker. We show that the results of the Malkan and Stecker calculation agree well with recent data on the infrared background. We then show that Whipple observations of the flaring gamma-ray spectrum of Mrk 421 hint at extragalactic absorption and that the HEGRA observations of the flaring spectrum of Mrk 501 appear to strongly indicate extragalactic absorption. We also discuss the determination of the y-ray opacity at higher redshifts, following the treatment of Salamon and Stecker. We give a predicted spectrum, with absorption included for PKS 2155-304. This XBL lies at a redshift of 0.12, the highest redshift source yet observed at an energy above 0.3 TeV. This source should have its spectrum steepened by approx. 1 in its spectral index between approx. 0.3 and approx. 3 TeV and should show an absorption cutoff above approx. 6 TeV.

Interaction effects on galaxy pairs with Gemini/GMOS- III: stellar population synthesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krabbe, A. C.; Rosa, D. A.; Pastoriza, M. G.; Hägele, G. F.; Cardaci, M. V.; Dors, O. L., Jr.; Winge, C.

2017-05-01

We present an observational study of the impacts of interactions on the stellar population in a sample of galaxy pairs. Long-slit spectra in the wavelength range 3440-7300 Å obtained with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) at Gemini South for 15 galaxies in nine close pairs were used. The spatial distributions of the stellar population contributions were obtained using the stellar population synthesis code starlight. Taking into account the different contributions to the emitted light, we found that most of the galaxies in our sample are dominated by young/intermediate stellar populations. This result differs from the one derived for isolated galaxies, where the old stellar population dominates the disc surface brightness. We interpreted such different behaviour as being due to the effect of gas inflows along the discs of interacting galaxies on the star formation over a time-scale of the order of about 2 Gyr. We also found that, in general, the secondary galaxy of a pair has a higher contribution from the young stellar population than the primary one. We compared the estimated values of stellar and nebular extinction derived from the synthesis method and the Hα/Hβ emission-line ratio, finding that nebular extinctions are systematically higher than stellar ones by about a factor of 2. We did not find any correlation between nebular and stellar metallicities. Neither did we find a correlation between stellar metallicities and ages, while a positive correlation between nebular metallicities and stellar ages was obtained, with older regions being the most metal-rich.

The Universe Is Reionizing at z ∼ 7: Bayesian Inference of the IGM Neutral Fraction Using Lyα Emission from Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mason, Charlotte A.; Treu, Tommaso; Dijkstra, Mark; Mesinger, Andrei; Trenti, Michele; Pentericci, Laura; de Barros, Stephane; Vanzella, Eros

2018-03-01

We present a new flexible Bayesian framework for directly inferring the fraction of neutral hydrogen in the intergalactic medium (IGM) during the Epoch of Reionization (EoR, z ∼ 6–10) from detections and non-detections of Lyman Alpha (Lyα) emission from Lyman Break galaxies (LBGs). Our framework combines sophisticated reionization simulations with empirical models of the interstellar medium (ISM) radiative transfer effects on Lyα. We assert that the Lyα line profile emerging from the ISM has an important impact on the resulting transmission of photons through the IGM, and that these line profiles depend on galaxy properties. We model this effect by considering the peak velocity offset of Lyα lines from host galaxies’ systemic redshifts, which are empirically correlated with UV luminosity and redshift (or halo mass at fixed redshift). We use our framework on the sample of LBGs presented in Pentericci et al. and infer a global neutral fraction at z ∼ 7 of {\\overline{x}}{{H}{{I}}}={0.59}-0.15+0.11, consistent with other robust probes of the EoR and confirming that reionization is ongoing ∼700 Myr after the Big Bang. We show that using the full distribution of Lyα equivalent width detections and upper limits from LBGs places tighter constraints on the evolving IGM than the standard Lyα emitter fraction, and that larger samples are within reach of deep spectroscopic surveys of gravitationally lensed fields and James Webb Space Telescope NIRSpec.

MOSAIC: A Multi-Object Spectrograph for the E-ELT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelz, A.; Hammer, F.; Jagourel, P.; MOSAIC Consortium

2016-10-01

The instrumentation plan for the European Extremely Large Telescope foresees a Multi-Object Spectrograph (E-ELT MOS). The MOSAIC project is proposed by a European-Brazilian consortium, to provide a unique MOS facility for astrophysics, studies of the inter-galactic medium and for cosmology. The science cases range from spectroscopy of the most distant galaxies, mass assembly and evolution of galaxies, via resolved stellar populations and galactic archaeology, to planet formation studies. A further strong driver is spectroscopic follow-up observations of targets that will be discovered with the James Webb Space Telescope.

Carbon monoxide emission from small galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thronson, Harley A., Jr.; Bally, John

1987-01-01

A search was conducted for J = 1 yields 0 CO emission from 22 galaxies, detecting half, as part of a survey to study star formation in small to medium size galaxies. Although substantial variation was found in the star formation efficiencies of the sample galaxies, there is no apparent systematic trend with galaxy size.

Comparing models of star formation simulating observed interacting galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quiroga, L. F.; Muñoz-Cuartas, J. C.; Rodrigues, I.

2017-07-01

In this work, we make a comparison between different models of star formation to reproduce observed interacting galaxies. We use observational data to model the evolution of a pair of galaxies undergoing a minor merger. Minor mergers represent situations weakly deviated from the equilibrium configuration but significant changes in star fomation (SF) efficiency can take place, then, minor mergers provide an unique scene to study SF in galaxies in a realistic but yet simple way. Reproducing observed systems also give us the opportunity to compare the results of the simulations with observations, which at the end can be used as probes to characterize the models of SF implemented in the comparison. In this work we compare two different star formation recipes implemented in Gadget3 and GIZMO codes. Both codes share the same numerical background, and differences arise mainly in the star formation recipe they use. We use observations from Pico dos Días and GEMINI telescopes and show how we use observational data of the interacting pair in AM2229-735 to characterize the interacting pair. Later we use this information to simulate the evolution of the system to finally reproduce the observations: Mass distribution, morphology and main features of the merger-induced star formation burst. We show that both methods manage to reproduce roughly the star formation activity. We show, through a careful study, that resolution plays a major role in the reproducibility of the system. In that sense, star formation recipe implemented in GIZMO code has shown a more robust performance. Acknowledgements: This work is supported by Colciencias, Doctorado Nacional - 617 program.

Is ram-pressure stripping an efficient mechanism to remove gas in galaxies?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quilis, Vicent; Planelles, Susana; Ricciardelli, Elena

2017-07-01

We study how the gas in a sample of galaxies (M* > 109 M⊙) in clusters, obtained in a cosmological simulation, is affected by the interaction with the intracluster medium (ICM). The dynamical state of each elemental parcel of gas is studied using the total energy. At z ˜ 2, the galaxies in the simulation are evenly distributed within clusters, later moving towards more central locations. In this process, gas from the ICM is accreted and mixed with the gas in the galactic halo. Simultaneously, the interaction with the environment removes part of the gas. A characteristic stellar mass around M* ˜ 1010 M⊙ appears as a threshold marking two differentiated behaviours. Below this mass, galaxies are located at the external part of clusters and have eccentric orbits. The effect of the interaction with the environment is marginal. Above, galaxies are mainly located at the inner part of clusters with mostly radial orbits with low velocities. In these massive systems, part of the gas, strongly correlated with the stellar mass of the galaxy, is removed. The amount of removed gas is subdominant compared with the quantity of retained gas, which is continuously influenced by the hot gas coming from the ICM. The analysis of individual galaxies reveals the existence of a complex pattern of flows, turbulence and a constant fuelling of gas to the hot corona from the ICM, which could mean that the global effect of the interaction of galaxies with their environment is substantially less dramatic than previously expected.

Galaxy M101

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-07-25

This three-color image of galaxy M101 was taken by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer on June 20, 2003. The far ultraviolet emissions are shown in blue, the near ultraviolet emissions are green, and the red emissions, which were taken from NASA's Digital Sky Survey, represent visible light. This image combines short, medium, and long "exposure" pictures to best display the evolution of star formation in a spiral galaxy. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04630

The origin of ICM enrichment in the outskirts of present-day galaxy clusters from cosmological hydrodynamical simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biffi, V.; Planelles, S.; Borgani, S.; Rasia, E.; Murante, G.; Fabjan, D.; Gaspari, M.

2018-05-01

The uniformity of the intracluster medium (ICM) enrichment level in the outskirts of nearby galaxy clusters suggests that chemical elements were deposited and widely spread into the intergalactic medium before the cluster formation. This observational evidence is supported by numerical findings from cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, as presented in Biffi et al., including the effect of thermal feedback from active galactic nuclei. Here, we further investigate this picture, by tracing back in time the spatial origin and metallicity evolution of the gas residing at z = 0 in the outskirts of simulated galaxy clusters. In these regions, we find a large distribution of iron abundances, including a component of highly enriched gas, already present at z = 2. At z > 1, the gas in the present-day outskirts was distributed over tens of virial radii from the main cluster and had been already enriched within high-redshift haloes. At z = 2, about 40 {per cent} of the most Fe-rich gas at z = 0 was not residing in any halo more massive than 10^{11} h^{-1} M_{⊙} in the region and yet its average iron abundance was already 0.4, w.r.t. the solar value by Anders & Grevesse. This confirms that the in situ enrichment of the ICM in the outskirts of present-day clusters does not play a significant role, and its uniform metal abundance is rather the consequence of the accretion of both low-metallicity and pre-enriched (at z > 2) gas, from the diffuse component and through merging substructures. These findings do not depend on the mass of the cluster nor on its core properties.

Found: A Galaxy's Missing Gamma Rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohler, Susanna

2016-04-01

Recent reanalysis of data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has resulted in the first detection of high-energy gamma rays emitted from a nearby galaxy. This discovery reveals more about how supernovae interact with their environments.Colliding Supernova RemnantAfter a stellar explosion, the supernovas ejecta expand, eventually encountering the ambient interstellar medium. According to models, this generates a strong shock, and a fraction of the kinetic energy of the ejecta is transferred into cosmic rays high-energy radiation composed primarily of protons and atomic nuclei. Much is still unknown about this process, however. One open question is: what fraction of the supernovas explosion power goes into accelerating these cosmic rays?In theory, one way to answer this is by looking for gamma rays. In a starburst galaxy, the collision of the supernova-accelerated cosmic rays with the dense interstellar medium is predicted to produce high-energy gamma rays. That radiation should then escape the galaxy and be visible to us.Pass 8 to the RescueObservational tests of this model, however, have beenstumped by Arp 220. This nearby ultraluminous infrared galaxy is the product of a galaxy merger ~700 million years ago that fueled a frenzy of starbirth. Due to its dusty interior and extreme levels of star formation, Arp 220 has long been predicted to emit the gamma rays produced by supernova-accelerated cosmic rays. But though weve looked, gamma-ray emission has never been detected from this galaxy until now.In a recent study, a team of scientists led by Fang-Kun Peng (Nanjing University) reprocessed 7.5 years of Fermi observations using the new Pass 8 analysis software. The resulting increase in resolution revealed the first detection of GeV emission from Arp 220!Acceleration EfficiencyGamma-ray luminosity vs. total infrared luminosity for LAT-detected star-forming galaxies and Seyferts. Arp 220s luminosities are consistent with the scaling relation. [Peng et al. 2016

SIDM on FIRE: hydrodynamical self-interacting dark matter simulations of low-mass dwarf galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robles, Victor H.; Bullock, James S.; Elbert, Oliver D.; Fitts, Alex; González-Samaniego, Alejandro; Boylan-Kolchin, Michael; Hopkins, Philip F.; Faucher-Giguère, Claude-André; Kereš, Dušan; Hayward, Christopher C.

2017-12-01

We compare a suite of four simulated dwarf galaxies formed in 1010 M⊙ haloes of collisionless cold dark matter (CDM) with galaxies simulated in the same haloes with an identical galaxy formation model but a non-zero cross-section for DM self-interactions. These cosmological zoom-in simulations are part of the Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE) project and utilize the FIRE-2 model for hydrodynamics and galaxy formation physics. We find the stellar masses of the galaxies formed in self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) with σ/m = 1 cm2 g-1 are very similar to those in CDM (spanning M⋆ ≈ 105.7-7.0M⊙) and all runs lie on a similar stellar mass-size relation. The logarithmic DM density slope (α = d log ρ/d log r) in the central 250-500 pc remains steeper than α = -0.8 for the CDM-Hydro simulations with stellar mass M⋆ ∼ 106.6 M⊙ and core-like in the most massive galaxy. In contrast, every SIDM hydrodynamic simulation yields a flatter profile, with α > -0.4. Moreover, the central density profiles predicted in SIDM runs without baryons are similar to the SIDM runs that include FIRE-2 baryonic physics. Thus, SIDM appears to be much more robust to the inclusion of (potentially uncertain) baryonic physics than CDM on this mass scale, suggesting that SIDM will be easier to falsify than CDM using low-mass galaxies. Our FIRE simulations predict that galaxies less massive than M⋆ ≲ 3 × 106 M⊙ provide potentially ideal targets for discriminating models, with SIDM producing substantial cores in such tiny galaxies and CDM producing cusps.

Ultrafast Outflows: Galaxy-scale Active Galactic Nucleus Feedback

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, A. Y.; Umemura, M.; Bicknell, G. V.

2013-01-01

We show, using global three-dimensional grid-based hydrodynamical simulations, that ultrafast outflows (UFOs) from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) result in considerable feedback of energy and momentum into the interstellar medium (ISM) of the host galaxy. The AGN wind interacts strongly with the inhomogeneous, two-phase ISM consisting of dense clouds embedded in a tenuous, hot, hydrostatic medium. The outflow floods through the intercloud channels, sweeps up the hot ISM, and ablates and disperses the dense clouds. The momentum of the UFO is primarily transferred to the dense clouds via the ram pressure in the channel flow, and the wind-blown bubble evolves in the energy-driven regime. Any dependence on UFO opening angle disappears after the first interaction with obstructing clouds. On kpc scales, therefore, feedback by UFOs operates similarly to feedback by relativistic AGN jets. Negative feedback is significantly stronger if clouds are distributed spherically rather than in a disk. In the latter case, the turbulent backflow of the wind drives mass inflow toward the central black hole. Considering the common occurrence of UFOs in AGNs, they are likely to be important in the cosmological feedback cycles of galaxy formation.

ULTRAFAST OUTFLOWS: GALAXY-SCALE ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS FEEDBACK

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wagner, A. Y.; Umemura, M.; Bicknell, G. V., E-mail: ayw@ccs.tsukuba.ac.jp

We show, using global three-dimensional grid-based hydrodynamical simulations, that ultrafast outflows (UFOs) from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) result in considerable feedback of energy and momentum into the interstellar medium (ISM) of the host galaxy. The AGN wind interacts strongly with the inhomogeneous, two-phase ISM consisting of dense clouds embedded in a tenuous, hot, hydrostatic medium. The outflow floods through the intercloud channels, sweeps up the hot ISM, and ablates and disperses the dense clouds. The momentum of the UFO is primarily transferred to the dense clouds via the ram pressure in the channel flow, and the wind-blown bubble evolves inmore » the energy-driven regime. Any dependence on UFO opening angle disappears after the first interaction with obstructing clouds. On kpc scales, therefore, feedback by UFOs operates similarly to feedback by relativistic AGN jets. Negative feedback is significantly stronger if clouds are distributed spherically rather than in a disk. In the latter case, the turbulent backflow of the wind drives mass inflow toward the central black hole. Considering the common occurrence of UFOs in AGNs, they are likely to be important in the cosmological feedback cycles of galaxy formation.« less

Giant Intergalactic Gas Stream Longer Than Thought

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2010-01-01

A giant stream of gas flowing from neighbor galaxies around our own Milky Way is much longer and older than previously thought, astronomers have discovered. The new revelations provide a fresh insight on what started the gaseous intergalactic streamer. The astronomers used the National Science Foundation's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to fill important gaps in the picture of gas streaming outward from the Magellanic Clouds. The first evidence of such a flow, named the Magellanic Stream, was discovered more than 30 years ago, and subsequent observations added tantalizing suggestions that there was more. However, the earlier picture showed gaps that left unanswered whether this other gas was part of the same system. "We now have answered that question. The stream is continuous," said David Nidever, of the University of Virginia. "We now have a much more complete map of the Magellanic Stream," he added. The astronomers presented their findings to the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Washington, DC. The Magellanic Clouds are the Milky Way's two nearest neighbor galaxies, about 150,000 to 200,000 light-years distant from the Milky Way. Visible in the Southern Hemisphere, they are much smaller than our Galaxy and may have been distorted by its gravity. Nidever and his colleagues observed the Magellanic Stream for more than 100 hours with the GBT. They then combined their GBT data with that from earlier studies with other radio telescopes, including the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico, the Parkes telescope in Australia, and the Westerbork telescope in the Netherlands. The result shows that the stream is more than 40 percent longer than previously known with certainty. One consequence of the added length of the gas stream is that it must be older, the astronomers say. They now estimate the age of the stream at 2.5 billion years. The revised size and age of the Magellanic Stream also provides a new potential explanation for how the flow got started

JET TRAILS AND MACH CONES: THE INTERACTION OF MICROQUASARS WITH THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yoon, D.; Morsony, B.; Heinz, S.

2011-11-20

A subset of microquasars exhibits high peculiar velocity with respect to the local standard of rest due to the kicks they receive when being born in supernovae. The interaction between the radio plasma released by microquasar jets from such high-velocity binaries with the interstellar medium must lead to the production of trails and bow shocks similar to what is observed in narrow-angle tailed radio galaxies and pulsar wind nebulae. We present a set of numerical simulations of this interaction that illuminate the long-term dynamical evolution and the observational properties of these microquasar bow-shock nebulae and trails. We find that thismore » interaction always produces a structure that consists of a bow shock, a trailing neck, and an expanding bubble. Using our simulations to model emission, we predict that the shock surrounding the bubble and the neck should be visible in H{sub {alpha}} emission, the interior of the bubble should be visible in synchrotron radio emission, and only the bow shock is likely to be detectable in X-ray emission. We construct an analytic model for the evolution of the neck and bubble shape and compare this model with observations of the X-ray binary SAX J1712.6-3739.« less

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the life and times of L★ galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robotham, A. S. G.; Liske, J.; Driver, S. P.; Sansom, A. E.; Baldry, I. K.; Bauer, A. E.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Brough, S.; Brown, M. J. I.; Colless, M.; Christodoulou, L.; Drinkwater, M. J.; Grootes, M. W.; Hopkins, A. M.; Kelvin, L. S.; Norberg, P.; Loveday, J.; Phillipps, S.; Sharp, R.; Taylor, E. N.; Tuffs, R. J.

2013-05-01

In this work, we investigate in detail the effects the local environment (groups and pairs) has on galaxies with stellar mass similar to the Milky Way (L* galaxies). A volume limited sample of 6150 galaxies are visually classified to determine the emission features, morphological type and presence of a disc. This large sample allows for the significant characteristics of galaxies to be isolated (e.g. stellar mass and group halo mass), and their codependencies determined. We observe that galaxy-galaxy interactions play the most important role in shaping the evolution within a group halo; the main role of halo mass is in gathering the galaxies together to encourage such interactions. Dominant pair galaxies find their overall star formation enhanced when the pair's mass ratio is close to 1; otherwise, we observe the same galaxies as we would in an unpaired system. The minor galaxy in a pair is greatly affected by its companion galaxy, and while the star-forming fraction is always suppressed relative to equivalent stellar mass unpaired galaxies, it becomes lower still when the mass ratio of a pair system increases. We find that, in general, the close galaxy-galaxy interaction rate drops as a function of halo mass for a given amount of stellar mass. We find evidence of a local peak of interactions for Milky Way stellar mass galaxies in Milky Way halo mass groups. Low-mass haloes, and in particular Local Group mass haloes, are an important environment for understanding the typical evolutionary path of a unit of stellar mass. We find compelling evidence for galaxy conformity in both groups and pairs, where morphological type conformity is dominant in groups, and emission class conformity is dominant in pairs. This suggests that group scale conformity is the result of many galaxy encounters over an extended period of time, while pair conformity is a fairly instantaneous response to a transitory interaction.

Making Galaxies: One Star at a Time

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Abel, Tom

2006-09-18

In the age of precision cosmology the fundamental parameters of our world model are being measured to unprecedented accuracy. In particular, measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation detail the state of the universe only 400,000 years after the big bang. Unfortunately, we have no direct observational evidence about the following few hundred million years, the so called dark ages. However, we do know from the composition of the highest redshift galaxies that it is there where the earliest and first galaxies are being formed. From a physics point of view these earliest times are much easier to understand andmore » model because the chemical composition of the early gas is simpler and the first galaxies are much smaller than the ones found nearby. The absence of strong magnetic fields, cosmic rays, dust grains and UV radiation fields clearly also helps. The first generation of structure formation is as such a problem extremely well suited for direct ab initio calculations using supercomputers. In this colloquium I will discuss the rich physics of the formation of the first objects as computed via ab initio Eulerian cosmological adaptive mesh refinement calculations. We find the first generation of stars to be massive and to form in isolation with mass between 30 and 300 times the mass of the sun. Remarkably the relevant mass scales can all be understood analytically from the microscopic properties of atomic and molecular hydrogen. The UV radiation from these stars photo-evaporates their parent clouds within their lifetimes contributing significantly to cosmological reionization. Their supernovae distribute the first heavy elements over thousands of light years and enrich the intergalactic medium. As we are beginning to illuminate these earliest phases of galaxy formation many new questions arise and become addressable with our novel numerical techniques. How and where are the earliest magnetic fields made? How do the first super-massive black holes

Modelling ultraviolet-line diagnostics of stars, the ionized and the neutral interstellar medium in star-forming galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vidal-García, A.; Charlot, S.; Bruzual, G.; Hubeny, I.

2017-09-01

We combine state-of-the-art models for the production of stellar radiation and its transfer through the interstellar medium (ISM) to investigate ultraviolet-line diagnostics of stars, the ionized and the neutral ISM in star-forming galaxies. We start by assessing the reliability of our stellar population synthesis modelling by fitting absorption-line indices in the ISM-free ultraviolet spectra of 10 Large Magellanic Cloud clusters. In doing so, we find that neglecting stochastic sampling of the stellar initial mass function in these young (∼10-100 Myr), low-mass clusters affects negligibly ultraviolet-based age and metallicity estimates but can lead to significant overestimates of stellar mass. Then, we proceed and develop a simple approach, based on an idealized description of the main features of the ISM, to compute in a physically consistent way the combined influence of nebular emission and interstellar absorption on ultraviolet spectra of star-forming galaxies. Our model accounts for the transfer of radiation through the ionized interiors and outer neutral envelopes of short-lived stellar birth clouds, as well as for radiative transfer through a diffuse intercloud medium. We use this approach to explore the entangled signatures of stars, the ionized and the neutral ISM in ultraviolet spectra of star-forming galaxies. We find that, aside from a few notable exceptions, most standard ultraviolet indices defined in the spectra of ISM-free stellar populations are prone to significant contamination by the ISM, which increases with metallicity. We also identify several nebular-emission and interstellar-absorption features, which stand out as particularly clean tracers of the different phases of the ISM.

Metal distributions out to 0.5 r {sub 180} in the intracluster medium of four galaxy groups observed with Suzaku

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sasaki, Toru; Matsushita, Kyoko; Sato, Kosuke, E-mail: j1213703@ed.tus.ac.jp, E-mail: matusita@rs.kagu.tus.ac.jp

2014-01-20

We studied the distributions of metal abundances and metal-mass-to-light ratios in the intracluster medium (ICM) of four galaxy groups, MKW 4, HCG 62, the NGC 1550 group, and the NGC 5044 group, out to ∼0.5 r {sub 180} observed with Suzaku. The iron abundance decreases with radius and is about 0.2-0.4 solar beyond 0.1 r {sub 180}. At a given radius in units of r {sub 180}, the iron abundance in the ICM of the four galaxy groups was consistent with or smaller than those of clusters of galaxies. The Mg/Fe and Si/Fe ratios in the ICM are nearly constantmore » at the solar ratio out to 0.5 r {sub 180}. We also studied systematic uncertainties in the derived metal abundances, comparing the results from two versions of atomic data for astrophysicists (ATOMDB) and single- and two-temperature model fits. Since the metals have been synthesized in galaxies, we collected K-band luminosities of galaxies from the Two Micron All Sky Survey catalog and calculated the integrated iron-mass-to-light-ratios (IMLR), or the ratios of the iron mass in the ICM to light from stars in galaxies. The groups with smaller gas-mass-to-light ratios have smaller IMLR values and the IMLR is inversely correlated with the entropy excess. Based on these abundance features, we discussed the past history of metal enrichment processes in groups of galaxies.« less

Constraining Lyman continuum escape using Machine Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giri, Sambit K.; Zackrisson, Erik; Binggeli, Christian; Pelckmans, Kristiaan; Cubo, Rubén; Mellema, Garrelt

2018-05-01

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will observe the rest-frame ultraviolet/optical spectra of galaxies from the epoch of reionization (EoR) in unprecedented detail. While escaping into the intergalactic medium, hydrogen-ionizing (Lyman continuum; LyC) photons from the galaxies will contribute to the bluer end of the UV slope and make nebular emission lines less prominent. We present a method to constrain leakage of the LyC photons using the spectra of high redshift (z >~ 6) galaxies. We simulate JWST/NIRSpec observations of galaxies at z =6-9 by matching the fluxes of galaxies observed in the Frontier Fields observations of galaxy cluster MACS-J0416. Our method predicts the escape fraction fesc with a mean absolute error Δfesc ~ 0.14. The method also predicts the redshifts of the galaxies with an error .

THE MERGER HISTORY, ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS, AND DWARF GALAXIES OF HICKSON COMPACT GROUP 59

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Konstantopoulos, I. S.; Charlton, J. C.; Brandt, W. N.

2012-01-20

Compact group galaxies often appear unaffected by their unusually dense environment. Closer examination can, however, reveal the subtle, cumulative effects of multiple galaxy interactions. Hickson Compact Group (HCG) 59 is an excellent example of this situation. We present a photometric study of this group in the optical (Hubble Space Telescope), infrared (Spitzer), and X-ray (Chandra) regimes aimed at characterizing the star formation and nuclear activity in its constituent galaxies and intra-group medium. We associate five dwarf galaxies with the group and update the velocity dispersion, leading to an increase in the dynamical mass of the group of up to amore » factor of 10 (to 2.8 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 13} M{sub Sun }), and a subsequent revision of its evolutionary stage. Star formation is proceeding at a level consistent with the morphological types of the four main galaxies, of which two are star-forming and the other are two quiescent. Unlike in some other compact groups, star-forming complexes across HCG 59 closely follow mass-radius scaling relations typical of nearby galaxies. In contrast, the ancient globular cluster populations in galaxies HCG 59A and B show intriguing irregularities, and two extragalactic H II regions are found just west of B. We age-date a faint stellar stream in the intra-group medium at {approx}1 Gyr to examine recent interactions. We detect a likely low-luminosity active galactic nucleus in HCG 59A by its {approx}10{sup 40} erg s{sup -1} X-ray emission; the active nucleus rather than star formation can account for the UV+IR spectral energy distribution. We discuss the implications of our findings in the context of galaxy evolution in dense environments.« less

A Bridge from Optical to Infrared Galaxies: Explaining Local Properties and Predicting Galaxy Counts and the Cosmic Background Radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Totani, Tomonori; Takeuchi, Tsutomu T.

2002-05-01

We give an explanation for the origin of various properties observed in local infrared galaxies and make predictions for galaxy counts and cosmic background radiation (CBR) using a new model extended from that for optical/near-infrared galaxies. Important new characteristics of this study are that (1) mass scale dependence of dust extinction is introduced based on the size-luminosity relation of optical galaxies and that (2) the large-grain dust temperature Tdust is calculated based on a physical consideration for energy balance rather than by using the empirical relation between Tdust and total infrared luminosity LIR found in local galaxies, which has been employed in most previous works. Consequently, the local properties of infrared galaxies, i.e., optical/infrared luminosity ratios, LIR-Tdust correlation, and infrared luminosity function are outputs predicted by the model, while these have been inputs in a number of previous models. Our model indeed reproduces these local properties reasonably well. Then we make predictions for faint infrared counts (in 15, 60, 90, 170, 450, and 850 μm) and CBR using this model. We found results considerably different from those of most previous works based on the empirical LIR-Tdust relation; especially, it is shown that the dust temperature of starbursting primordial elliptical galaxies is expected to be very high (40-80 K), as often seen in starburst galaxies or ultraluminous infrared galaxies in the local and high-z universe. This indicates that intense starbursts of forming elliptical galaxies should have occurred at z~2-3, in contrast to the previous results that significant starbursts beyond z~1 tend to overproduce the far-infrared (FIR) CBR detected by COBE/FIRAS. On the other hand, our model predicts that the mid-infrared (MIR) flux from warm/nonequilibrium dust is relatively weak in such galaxies making FIR CBR, and this effect reconciles the prima facie conflict between the upper limit on MIR CBR from TeV gamma

The basis for cosmic ray feedback: Written on the wind

PubMed Central

Zweibel, Ellen G.

2017-01-01

Star formation and supermassive black hole growth in galaxies appear to be self-limiting. The mechanisms for self-regulation are known as feedback. Cosmic rays, the relativistic particle component of interstellar and intergalactic plasma, are among the agents of feedback. Because cosmic rays are virtually collisionless in the plasma environments of interest, their interaction with the ambient medium is primarily mediated by large scale magnetic fields and kinetic scale plasma waves. Because kinetic scales are much smaller than global scales, this interaction is most conveniently described by fluid models. In this paper, I discuss the kinetic theory and the classical theory of cosmic ray hydrodynamics (CCRH) which follows from assuming cosmic rays interact only with self-excited waves. I generalize CCRH to generalized cosmic ray hydrodynamics, which accommodates interactions with extrinsic turbulence, present examples of cosmic ray feedback, and assess where progress is needed. PMID:28579734

The basis for cosmic ray feedback: Written on the wind

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zweibel, Ellen G.

2017-05-01

Star formation and supermassive black hole growth in galaxies appear to be self-limiting. The mechanisms for self-regulation are known as feedback. Cosmic rays, the relativistic particle component of interstellar and intergalactic plasma, are among the agents of feedback. Because cosmic rays are virtually collisionless in the plasma environments of interest, their interaction with the ambient medium is primarily mediated by large scale magnetic fields and kinetic scale plasma waves. Because kinetic scales are much smaller than global scales, this interaction is most conveniently described by fluid models. In this paper, I discuss the kinetic theory and the classical theory of cosmic ray hydrodynamics (CCRH) which follows from assuming cosmic rays interact only with self-excited waves. I generalize CCRH to generalized cosmic ray hydrodynamics, which accommodates interactions with extrinsic turbulence, present examples of cosmic ray feedback, and assess where progress is needed.

The basis for cosmic ray feedback: Written on the wind.

PubMed

Zweibel, Ellen G

2017-05-01

Star formation and supermassive black hole growth in galaxies appear to be self-limiting. The mechanisms for self-regulation are known as feedback . Cosmic rays, the relativistic particle component of interstellar and intergalactic plasma, are among the agents of feedback. Because cosmic rays are virtually collisionless in the plasma environments of interest, their interaction with the ambient medium is primarily mediated by large scale magnetic fields and kinetic scale plasma waves. Because kinetic scales are much smaller than global scales, this interaction is most conveniently described by fluid models. In this paper, I discuss the kinetic theory and the classical theory of cosmic ray hydrodynamics (CCRH) which follows from assuming cosmic rays interact only with self-excited waves. I generalize CCRH to generalized cosmic ray hydrodynamics, which accommodates interactions with extrinsic turbulence, present examples of cosmic ray feedback, and assess where progress is needed.

LSSGalPy: Interactive Visualization of the Large-scale Environment Around Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Argudo-Fernández, M.; Duarte Puertas, S.; Ruiz, J. E.; Sabater, J.; Verley, S.; Bergond, G.

2017-05-01

New tools are needed to handle the growth of data in astrophysics delivered by recent and upcoming surveys. We aim to build open-source, light, flexible, and interactive software designed to visualize extensive three-dimensional (3D) tabular data. Entirely written in the Python language, we have developed interactive tools to browse and visualize the positions of galaxies in the universe and their positions with respect to its large-scale structures (LSS). Motivated by a previous study, we created two codes using Mollweide projection and wedge diagram visualizations, where survey galaxies can be overplotted on the LSS of the universe. These are interactive representations where the visualizations can be controlled by widgets. We have released these open-source codes that have been designed to be easily re-used and customized by the scientific community to fulfill their needs. The codes are adaptable to other kinds of 3D tabular data and are robust enough to handle several millions of objects. .

Dense magnetized plasma associated with a fast radio burst.

PubMed

Masui, Kiyoshi; Lin, Hsiu-Hsien; Sievers, Jonathan; Anderson, Christopher J; Chang, Tzu-Ching; Chen, Xuelei; Ganguly, Apratim; Jarvis, Miranda; Kuo, Cheng-Yu; Li, Yi-Chao; Liao, Yu-Wei; McLaughlin, Maura; Pen, Ue-Li; Peterson, Jeffrey B; Roman, Alexander; Timbie, Peter T; Voytek, Tabitha; Yadav, Jaswant K

2015-12-24

Fast radio bursts are bright, unresolved, non-repeating, broadband, millisecond flashes, found primarily at high Galactic latitudes, with dispersion measures much larger than expected for a Galactic source. The inferred all-sky burst rate is comparable to the core-collapse supernova rate out to redshift 0.5. If the observed dispersion measures are assumed to be dominated by the intergalactic medium, the sources are at cosmological distances with redshifts of 0.2 to 1 (refs 10 and 11). These parameters are consistent with a wide range of source models. One fast burst revealed circular polarization of the radio emission, but no linear polarization was detected, and hence no Faraday rotation measure could be determined. Here we report the examination of archival data revealing Faraday rotation in the fast radio burst FRB 110523. Its radio flux and dispersion measure are consistent with values from previously reported bursts and, accounting for a Galactic contribution to the dispersion and using a model of intergalactic electron density, we place the source at a maximum redshift of 0.5. The burst has a much higher rotation measure than expected for this line of sight through the Milky Way and the intergalactic medium, indicating magnetization in the vicinity of the source itself or within a host galaxy. The pulse was scattered by two distinct plasma screens during propagation, which requires either a dense nebula associated with the source or a location within the central region of its host galaxy. The detection in this instance of magnetization and scattering that are both local to the source favours models involving young stellar populations such as magnetars over models involving the mergers of older neutron stars, which are more likely to be located in low-density regions of the host galaxy.

Galaxy Portal: interacting with the galaxy platform through mobile devices.

PubMed

Børnich, Claus; Grytten, Ivar; Hovig, Eivind; Paulsen, Jonas; Čech, Martin; Sandve, Geir Kjetil

2016-06-01

: We present Galaxy Portal app, an open source interface to the Galaxy system through smart phones and tablets. The Galaxy Portal provides convenient and efficient monitoring of job completion, as well as opportunities for inspection of results and execution history. In addition to being useful to the Galaxy community, we believe that the app also exemplifies a useful way of exploiting mobile interfaces for research/high-performance computing resources in general. The source is freely available under a GPL license on GitHub, along with user documentation and pre-compiled binaries and instructions for several platforms: https://github.com/Tarostar/QMLGalaxyPortal It is available for iOS version 7 (and newer) through the Apple App Store, and for Android through Google Play for version 4.1 (API 16) or newer. geirksa@ifi.uio.no. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

The environment of x ray selected BL Lacs: Host galaxies and galaxy clustering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wurtz, Ron; Stocke, John T.; Ellingson, Erica; Yee, Howard K. C.

1993-01-01

Using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, we have imaged a complete, flux-limited sample of Einstein Medium Sensitivity Survey BL Lacertae objects in order to study the properties of BL Lac host galaxies and to use quantitative methods to determine the richness of their galaxy cluster environments.

Ram Pressure Stripping of Galaxy JO201

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Greta; Tonnesen, Stephanie; Jaffé, Yara; Bellhouse, Callum; Bianca Poggianti

2017-01-01

Despite the discovery of the morphology-density relation more than 30 years ago, the process driving the evolution of spiral galaxies into S0s in clusters is still widely debated. Ram pressure stripping--the removal of a galaxy's interstellar medium by the pressure of the intracluster medium through which it orbits--may help explain galactic evolution and quenching in clusters. MUSE (Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer) observational data of galaxy JO201 in cluster Abell 85 reveal it to be a jellyfish galaxy--one with an H-alpha emitting gas tail on only one side. We model the possible orbits for this galaxy, constrained by the cluster mass profile, line of sight velocity, and projected distance from the cluster center. Using Enzo, an adaptive mesh refinement hydrodynamics code, we simulate effects of ram pressure on this galaxy for a range of possible orbits. We present comparisons of both the morphology and velocity structure of our simulated galaxy to the observations of H-alpha emission.

Shadow of colossus: A z = 2.44 galaxy protocluster detected in 3D Ly α forest tomographic mapping of the cosmos field

DOE PAGES

Lee, Khee-Gan; Hennawi, Joseph F.; White, Martin; ...

2016-01-28

By using moderate-resolution optical spectra from 58 background Lyman-break galaxies and quasars at z ~ 2.3-3 within a 11'.5 × 13'.5 area of the COSMOS field (~1200 deg -2 projected area density or ~2.4 h -1 Mpc mean transverse separation), we reconstruct a 3D tomographic map of the foreground Lyα forest absorption at 2.2 < z < 2.5 with an effective smoothing scale of ϵ 3D ≈ 2.5 h -1 Mpc comoving. Comparing with 61 coeval galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the same volume, we find that the galaxy positions are clearly biased toward regions with enhanced intergalactic medium (IGM)more » absorption in the tomographic map. Here, we find an extended IGM overdensity with deep absorption troughs at z = 2.45 associated with a recently discovered galaxy protocluster at the same redshift. Based on simulations matched to our data, we estimate the enclosed dark matter mass within this IGM overdensity to be M dm (z= 2.45) = (1.1 ± 0.6) ×10 14 h -1 M ⊙ , and argue based on this mass and absorption strength that it will form at least one z ~ 0 galaxy cluster with M(z = 0) = (3 ± 1.5) ×10 14h -1 M ⊙ , although its elongated nature suggests that it will likely collapse into two separate clusters. We also point out a compact overdensity of six MOSDEF galaxies at z = 2.30 within a r ~ 1 h -1 Mpc radius and Δz ~ 0.006, which does not appear to have a large associated IGM overdensity. Our results demonstrate the potential of Lyα forest tomography on larger volumes to study galaxy properties as a function of environment, as well as revealing the large-scale IGM overdensities associated with protoclusters or other features of large-scale structure.« less

THE INTRAGROUP VERSUS THE INTRACLUSTER MEDIUM

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cavaliere, A.; Fusco-Femiano, R.; Lapi, A., E-mail: roberto.fuscofemiano@iaps.inaf.it

2016-06-20

Galaxy groups differ from clusters primarily by way of their lower masses, M ∼ 10{sup 14} M {sub ⊙} versus M ∼ 10{sup 15} M {sub ⊙}. We discuss how mass affects the thermal state of the intracluster or the intragroup medium, specifically as to their entropy levels and radial profiles. We show that entropy is produced in both cases by the continuing inflow of intergalactic gas across the system boundary into the gravitational potential well. The inflow is highly supersonic in clusters, but weakly so in groups. The former condition implies strong accretion shocks with substantial conversion of amore » large bulk kinetic into thermal energy, whereas the latter condition implies less effective conversion of lower energies. These features produce a conspicuous difference in entropy deposition at the current boundary. Thereafter, adiabatic compression of the hot gas into the potential well converts such time histories into radial profiles throughout a cluster or a group. In addition, in both cases, a location of the system at low z in the accelerating universe or in a poor environment will starve out the inflow and the entropy production and produce flattening or even bending down of the outer profile. We analyze, in detail, the sharp evidence provided by the two groups ESO 3060170 and RXJ1159+5531 that have been recently observed in X-rays out to their virial radii and find a close and detailed match with our expectations.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heckman, Timothy; Borthakur, Sanchayeeta; Wild, Vivienne

We report on observations made with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on the Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ) using background quasi-stellar objects to probe the circum-galactic medium (CGM) around 17 low-redshift galaxies that are undergoing or have recently undergone a strong starburst (the COS-Burst program). The sightlines extend out to roughly the virial radius of the galaxy halo. We construct control samples of normal star-forming low-redshift galaxies from the COS/ HST archive that match the starbursts in terms of galaxy stellar mass and impact parameter. We find clear evidence that the CGM around the starbursts differs systematically compared tomore » the control galaxies. The Ly α , Si iii, C iv, and possibly O vi absorption lines are stronger as a function of impact parameter, and the ratios of the equivalent widths of C iv/Ly α and Si iii/Ly α are both higher than in normal star-forming galaxies. We also find that the widths and the velocity offsets (relative to v {sub sys}) of the Ly α absorption lines are significantly larger in the CGM of the starbursts, implying velocities of the absorbing material that are roughly twice the halo virial velocity. We show that these properties can be understood as a consequence of the interaction between a starburst-driven wind and the preexisting CGM. These results underscore the importance of winds driven from intensely star-forming galaxies in helping drive the evolution of galaxies and the intergalactic medium. They also offer a new probe of the properties of starburst-driven winds and of the CGM itself.« less

An Interacting Galaxy Pair at the Origin of a Light Echo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Merluzzi, Paola; Busarello, Giovanni; Dopita, Michael A.; Thomas, Adam D.; Haines, Chris P.; Grado, Aniello; Limatola, Luca; Mercurio, Amata

2018-01-01

In a low-density region of the Shapley supercluster we identified an interacting galaxy pair at redshift z = 0.04865 in which the Seyfert 2 nucleus of the main galaxy (ShaSS 073) is exciting an extended emission line region (EELR, ∼170 kpc2) in the disk of the less massive companion (ShaSS 622). New integral-field spectroscopy and the multiband data set, spanning from far-ultraviolet to far-infrared and radio wavelengths, allowed us to obtain a detailed description of the ShaSS 622–073 system. The gas kinematics shows hints of interaction, although the overall velocity field shows a quite regular rotation in both galaxies, thus suggesting that we are observing their first encounter as confirmed by the estimated distance of 21 kpc between the two galaxy centers. The detected ∼ 2{--}3 {kpc} active galactic nucleus (AGN) outflow and the geometry of the EELR in ShaSS 622 support the presence of a hollow bicone structure. The status and sources of the ionization across the whole system have been analyzed through photoionization models and a Bayesian approach that prove a clear connection between the AGN and the EELR. The luminosity of the AGN (2.4× {10}44 erg s‑1) is a factor of 20 lower than the power needed to excite the gas in the EELR (4.6 × 1045 erg s‑1), indicating a dramatic fading of the AGN in the past 3 × 104 yr. ShaSS 073–622 provides all the ingredients listed in the recipe of a light echo where a highly-ionized region maintains memory of a preceding more energetic phase of a now-faded AGN. This is the first case of a light echo observed between two galaxies.

'That proves my point': How mediums reconstrue disconfirmation in medium-sitter interactions.

PubMed

Enoksen, Anette Einan; Dickerson, Paul

2018-04-01

Previous research has examined how the talk of mediums attends to the epistemological status of their readings. Such work has identified that mediums frequently use question-framed propositions that are typically confirmed by the sitter, thereby conferring epistemological status on the medium. This study seeks to investigate what happens when the sitter disconfirms the propositions of the medium. The study focuses on the ways in which such disconfirmation can be responded to such that it is reconstrued as evidence of the psychic nature of the medium's reading. Televised demonstrations of psychic readings involving British and US mediums and their sitters are analysed. The results suggest that mediums rework disconfirmation as proof in several ways: first, by emphasizing the different access that sitter and medium have to knowledge (e.g., about the future); second, as evidence that the medium has access to the actual voice of the deceased (and may therefore mishear what the deceased has said to them); and third, as revealing an important truth that has hitherto been concealed from the sitter. The implications of these findings are considered for cases where speakers bring different and potentially competing, epistemological resources to an interaction. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

Simulating Gamma-Ray Emission in Star-forming Galaxies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pfrommer, Christoph; Pakmor, Rüdiger; Simpson, Christine M.

Star-forming galaxies emit GeV and TeV gamma-rays that are thought to originate from hadronic interactions of cosmic-ray (CR) nuclei with the interstellar medium. To understand the emission, we have used the moving-mesh code Arepo to perform magnetohydrodynamical galaxy formation simulations with self-consistent CR physics. Our galaxy models exhibit a first burst of star formation that injects CRs at supernovae. Once CRs have sufficiently accumulated in our Milky Way–like galaxy, their buoyancy force overcomes the magnetic tension of the toroidal disk field. As field lines open up, they enable anisotropically diffusing CRs to escape into the halo and to accelerate amore » bubble-like, CR-dominated outflow. However, these bubbles are invisible in our simulated gamma-ray maps of hadronic pion-decay and secondary inverse-Compton emission because of low gas density in the outflows. By adopting a phenomenological relation between star formation rate (SFR) and far-infrared emission and assuming that gamma-rays mainly originate from decaying pions, our simulated galaxies can reproduce the observed tight relation between far-infrared and gamma-ray emission, independent of whether we account for anisotropic CR diffusion. This demonstrates that uncertainties in modeling active CR transport processes only play a minor role in predicting gamma-ray emission from galaxies. We find that in starbursts, most of the CR energy is “calorimetrically” lost to hadronic interactions. In contrast, the gamma-ray emission deviates from this calorimetric property at low SFRs due to adiabatic losses, which cannot be identified in traditional one-zone models.« less

Simulating Gamma-Ray Emission in Star-forming Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pfrommer, Christoph; Pakmor, Rüdiger; Simpson, Christine M.; Springel, Volker

2017-10-01

Star-forming galaxies emit GeV and TeV gamma-rays that are thought to originate from hadronic interactions of cosmic-ray (CR) nuclei with the interstellar medium. To understand the emission, we have used the moving-mesh code Arepo to perform magnetohydrodynamical galaxy formation simulations with self-consistent CR physics. Our galaxy models exhibit a first burst of star formation that injects CRs at supernovae. Once CRs have sufficiently accumulated in our Milky Way-like galaxy, their buoyancy force overcomes the magnetic tension of the toroidal disk field. As field lines open up, they enable anisotropically diffusing CRs to escape into the halo and to accelerate a bubble-like, CR-dominated outflow. However, these bubbles are invisible in our simulated gamma-ray maps of hadronic pion-decay and secondary inverse-Compton emission because of low gas density in the outflows. By adopting a phenomenological relation between star formation rate (SFR) and far-infrared emission and assuming that gamma-rays mainly originate from decaying pions, our simulated galaxies can reproduce the observed tight relation between far-infrared and gamma-ray emission, independent of whether we account for anisotropic CR diffusion. This demonstrates that uncertainties in modeling active CR transport processes only play a minor role in predicting gamma-ray emission from galaxies. We find that in starbursts, most of the CR energy is “calorimetrically” lost to hadronic interactions. In contrast, the gamma-ray emission deviates from this calorimetric property at low SFRs due to adiabatic losses, which cannot be identified in traditional one-zone models.

Transition of an X-ray binary to the hard ultraluminous state in the blue compact dwarf galaxy VII Zw 403

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brorby, M.; Kaaret, P.; Feng, H.

2015-04-01

We examine the X-ray spectra of VII Zw 403, a nearby low-metallicity blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxy. The galaxy has been observed to contain an X-ray source, likely a high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB), with a luminosity of 1.3-23 × 1038 erg s-1 in the 0.3-8 keV energy range. A new Suzaku observation shows a transition to a luminosity of 1.7 × 1040 erg s-1 [0.3-8 keV], higher by a factor of 7-130. The spectra from the high-flux state are hard, best described by a disc plus Comptonization model, and exhibit curvature at energies above 5 keV. This is consistent with many high-quality ultraluminous X-ray source spectra which have been interpreted as stellar mass black holes accreting at super-Eddington rates. However, this lies in contrast to another HMXB in a low-metallicity BCD, I Zw 18, that exhibits a soft spectrum at high flux, similar to Galactic black hole binaries and has been interpreted as a possible intermediate-mass black hole. Determining the spectral properties of HMXBs in BCDs has important implications for models of the Epoch of Reionization. It is thought that the main component of X-ray heating in the early Universe was dominated by HMXBs within the first galaxies. Early galaxies were small, metal-deficient, star-forming galaxies with large H I mass fractions - properties shared by local BCDs we see today. Understanding the spectral evolution of HMXBs in early Universe analogue galaxies, such as BCDs, is an important step in estimating their contribution to the heating of the intergalactic medium during the Epoch of Reionization. The strong contrast between the properties of the only two spectroscopically studied HMXBs within BCDs motivates further study on larger samples of HMXBs in low-metallicity environments in order to properly estimate the X-ray heating in the early Universe.

The Oort cloud and the Galaxy - Dynamical interactions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weissman, Paul R.

1986-01-01

The results of recent dynamical studies of the Oort cloud and its interaction with the Galaxy are discussed. Various studies which used Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the evolution of comets in the Oort cloud and the manner in which they are injected into the planetary region are reviewed. Work done on perturbation of cometary orbits by stars, interstellar clouds, and the Galaxy is examined. The growing consensus that there is a massive inner Oort cloud with a population up to 100 times that of the dynamically active outer cloud is addressed. Variations on the Oort hypothesis are discussed. It is argued that speculations about the existence of a small unseen solar companion star or a tenth planet causing periodic comet showers from the inner Oort cloud are not supported by dynamical studies or analyses of the terrestrial and lunar cratering record. Evidence for Oort clouds around other stars is summarized.

Environmental influences on galaxy evolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zepf, Stephen E.; Whitmore, Bradley C.

1993-01-01

We investigate the role of mergers and interactions in the evolution of galaxies by studying galaxies in compact groups. Compact groups of galaxies have high spatial densities and low velocity dispersions making these regions ideal laboratories in which to study the effect of interactions and mergers. Based on a detailed spectroscopic and multi-color imaging study, we find that both the isophotal shapes and the stellar kinematics indicate that many of the elliptical galaxies in compact groups have been affected by tidal interactions. At the same time, however, we find that only a few elliptical galaxies in compact groups have evidence for the young stellar populations that would be expected if they are the result of recent merger of two spiral galaxies. Therefore, we conclude that tidal interactions affect galaxy properties at the current epoch, but the bulk of basic galaxy formation and transformation must have occurred at much higher redshift.

Strong Lensing Analysis of the Galaxy Cluster MACS J1319.9+7003 and the Discovery of a Shell Galaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zitrin, Adi

2017-01-01

We present a strong-lensing (SL) analysis of the galaxy cluster MACS J1319.9+7003 (z = 0.33, also known as Abell 1722), as part of our ongoing effort to analyze massive clusters with archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging. We spectroscopically measured with Keck/Multi-Object Spectrometer For Infra-Red Exploration (MOSFIRE) two galaxies multiply imaged by the cluster. Our analysis reveals a modest lens, with an effective Einstein radius of {θ }e(z=2)=12+/- 1\\prime\\prime , enclosing 2.1+/- 0.3× {10}13 M⊙. We briefly discuss the SL properties of the cluster, using two different modeling techniques (see the text for details), and make the mass models publicly available (ftp://wise-ftp.tau.ac.il/pub/adiz/MACS1319/). Independently, we identified a noteworthy, young shell galaxy (SG) system forming around two likely interacting cluster members, 20″ north of the brightest cluster galaxy. SGs are rare in galaxy clusters, and indeed, a simple estimate reveals that they are only expected in roughly one in several dozen, to several hundred, massive galaxy clusters (the estimate can easily change by an order of magnitude within a reasonable range of characteristic values relevant for the calculation). Taking advantage of our lens model best-fit, mass-to-light scaling relation for cluster members, we infer that the total mass of the SG system is ˜ 1.3× {10}11 {M}⊙ , with a host-to-companion mass ratio of about 10:1. Despite being rare in high density environments, the SG constitutes an example to how stars of cluster galaxies are efficiently redistributed to the intra-cluster medium. Dedicated numerical simulations for the observed shell configuration, perhaps aided by the mass model, might cast interesting light on the interaction history and properties of the two galaxies. An archival HST search in galaxy cluster images can reveal more such systems.

Modelling galaxy spectra in presence of interstellar dust - III. From nearby galaxies to the distant Universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cassarà, L. P.; Piovan, L.; Chiosi, C.

2015-07-01

Improving upon the standard evolutionary population synthesis technique, we present spectrophotometric models of galaxies with morphology going from spherical structures to discs, properly accounting for the effect of dust in the interstellar medium (ISM). The models contain three main physical components: the diffuse ISM made of gas and dust, the complexes of molecular clouds where active star formation occurs, and stars of any age and chemical composition. These models are based on robust evolutionary chemical description providing the total amount of gas and stars present at any age, and matching the properties of galaxies of different morphological types. We have considered the results obtained by Piovan et al. for the properties of the ISM, and those by Cassarà et al. for the spectral energy distribution (SED) of single stellar populations, both in presence of dust, to model the integral SEDs of galaxies of different morphological types, going from pure bulges to discs passing through a number of composite systems with different combinations of the two components. The first part of the paper is devoted to recall the technical details of the method and the basic relations driving the interaction between the physical components of the galaxy. Then, the main parameters are examined and their effects on the SED of three prototype galaxies are highlighted. The theoretical SEDs nicely match the observational ones both for nearby galaxies and those at high redshift.

The Formation and Physical Origin of Highly Ionized Cooling Gas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bordoloi, Rongmon; Wagner, Alexander Y.; Heckman, Timothy M.

We present a simple model that explains the origin of warm, diffuse gas seen primarily as highly ionized absorption-line systems in the spectra of background sources. We predict the observed column densities of several highly ionized transitions such as O vi, O vii, Ne viii, N v, and Mg x, and we present a unified comparison of the model predictions with absorption lines seen in the Milky Way disk, Milky Way halo, starburst galaxies, the circumgalactic medium, and the intergalactic medium at low and high redshifts. We show that diffuse gas seen in such diverse environments can be simultaneously explainedmore » by a simple model of radiatively cooling gas. We show that most such absorption-line systems are consistent with being collisionally ionized, and we estimate the maximum-likelihood temperature of the gas in each observation. This model satisfactorily explains why O vi is regularly observed around star-forming low- z L* galaxies, and why N v is rarely seen around the same galaxies. We further present some consequences of this model in quantifying the dynamics of the cooling gas around galaxies and predict the shock velocities associated with such flows. A unique strength of this model is that while it has only one free (but physically well-constrained) parameter, it nevertheless successfully reproduces the available data on O vi absorbers in the interstellar, circumgalactic, intragroup, and intergalactic media, as well as the available data on other absorption lines from highly ionized species.« less

LEAVING THE DARK AGES WITH AMIGA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Manrique, Alberto; Salvador-Solé, Eduard; Juan, Enric

2015-01-01

We present an Analytic Model of Intergalactic-medium and GAlaxy (AMIGA) evolution since the dark ages. AMIGA is in the spirit of the popular semi-analytic models of galaxy formation, although it does not use halo merger trees but interpolates halo properties in grids that are progressively built. This strategy is less memory-demanding and allows one to start modeling at sufficiently high redshifts and low halo masses to have trivial boundary conditions. The number of free parameters is minimized by making a causal connection between physical processes usually treated as independent of each other, which leads to more reliable predictions. However, themore » strongest points of AMIGA are the following: (1) the inclusion of molecular cooling and metal-poor, population III (Pop III) stars with the most dramatic feedback and (2) accurate follow up of the temperature and volume filling factor of neutral, singly ionized, and doubly ionized regions, taking into account the distinct halo mass functions in those environments. We find the following general results. Massive Pop III stars determine the intergalactic medium metallicity and temperature, and the growth of spheroids and disks is self-regulated by that of massive black holes (MBHs) developed from the remnants of those stars. However, the properties of normal galaxies and active galactic nuclei appear to be quite insensitive to Pop III star properties due to the much higher yield of ordinary stars compared to Pop III stars and the dramatic growth of MBHs when normal galaxies begin to develop, which cause the memory loss of the initial conditions.« less

Analysis of candidates for interacting galaxy clusters. I. A1204 and A2029/A2033

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez, Elizabeth Johana; de los Rios, Martín; Oio, Gabriel A.; Lang, Daniel Hernández; Tagliaferro, Tania Aguirre; Domínguez R., Mariano J.; Castellón, José Luis Nilo; Cuevas L., Héctor; Valotto, Carlos A.

2018-04-01

Context. Merging galaxy clusters allow for the study of different mass components, dark and baryonic, separately. Also, their occurrence enables to test the ΛCDM scenario, which can be used to put constraints on the self-interacting cross-section of the dark-matter particle. Aim. It is necessary to perform a homogeneous analysis of these systems. Hence, based on a recently presented sample of candidates for interacting galaxy clusters, we present the analysis of two of these cataloged systems. Methods: In this work, the first of a series devoted to characterizing galaxy clusters in merger processes, we perform a weak lensing analysis of clusters A1204 and A2029/A2033 to derive the total masses of each identified interacting structure together with a dynamical study based on a two-body model. We also describe the gas and the mass distributions in the field through a lensing and an X-ray analysis. This is the first of a series of works which will analyze these type of system in order to characterize them. Results: Neither merging cluster candidate shows evidence of having had a recent merger event. Nevertheless, there is dynamical evidence that these systems could be interacting or could interact in the future. Conclusions: It is necessary to include more constraints in order to improve the methodology of classifying merging galaxy clusters. Characterization of these clusters is important in order to properly understand the nature of these systems and their connection with dynamical studies.

Lyman continuum escape fraction of faint galaxies at z 3.3 in the CANDELS/GOODS-North, EGS, and COSMOS fields with LBC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grazian, A.; Giallongo, E.; Paris, D.; Boutsia, K.; Dickinson, M.; Santini, P.; Windhorst, R. A.; Jansen, R. A.; Cohen, S. H.; Ashcraft, T. A.; Scarlata, C.; Rutkowski, M. J.; Vanzella, E.; Cusano, F.; Cristiani, S.; Giavalisco, M.; Ferguson, H. C.; Koekemoer, A.; Grogin, N. A.; Castellano, M.; Fiore, F.; Fontana, A.; Marchi, F.; Pedichini, F.; Pentericci, L.; Amorín, R.; Barro, G.; Bonchi, A.; Bongiorno, A.; Faber, S. M.; Fumana, M.; Galametz, A.; Guaita, L.; Kocevski, D. D.; Merlin, E.; Nonino, M.; O'Connell, R. W.; Pilo, S.; Ryan, R. E.; Sani, E.; Speziali, R.; Testa, V.; Weiner, B.; Yan, H.

2017-06-01

Context. The reionization of the Universe is one of the most important topics of present-day astrophysical research. The most plausible candidates for the reionization process are star-forming galaxies, which according to the predictions of the majority of the theoretical and semi-analytical models should dominate the H I ionizing background at z ≳ 3. Aims: We measure the Lyman continuum escape fraction, which is one of the key parameters used to compute the contribution of star-forming galaxies to the UV background. It provides the ratio between the photons produced at λ ≤ 912 Å rest-frame and those that are able to reach the inter-galactic medium, I.e. that are not absorbed by the neutral hydrogen or by the dust of the galaxy's inter-stellar medium. Methods: We used ultra-deep U-band imaging (U = 30.2 mag at 1σ) from Large Binocular Camera at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBC/LBT) in the CANDELS/GOODS-North field and deep imaging in the COSMOS and EGS fields in order to estimate the Lyman continuum escape fraction of 69 star-forming galaxies with secure spectroscopic redshifts at 3.27 ≤ z ≤ 3.40 to faint magnitude limits (L = 0.2L∗, or equivalently M1500 - 19). The narrow redshift range implies that the LBC U-band filter exclusively samples the λ ≤ 912 Å rest-frame wavelengths. Results: We measured through stacks a stringent upper limit (<1.7% at 1σ) for the relative escape fraction of H I ionizing photons from bright galaxies (L>L∗), while for the faint population (L = 0.2L∗) the limit to the escape fraction is ≲ 10%. We computed the contribution of star-forming galaxies to the observed UV background at z 3 and find that it is not sufficient to keep the Universe ionized at these redshifts unless their escape fraction increases significantly (≥ 10%) at low luminosities (M1500 ≥ - 19). Conclusions: We compare our results on the Lyman continuum escape fraction of high-z galaxies with recent estimates in the literature, and discuss

Test of the decaying dark matter hypothesis using the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davidsen, A. F.; Kriss, G. A.; Ferguson, H. C.; Blair, W. P.; Bowers, C. W.; Kimble, R. A.

1991-01-01

Sciama's hypothesis that the dark matter associated with galaxies, galaxy clusters, and the intergalactic medium consists of tau neutrinos of rest mass 28-30 eV whose decay generates ultraviolet photons of energy roughly 14-15 eV, has been tested using the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope flows aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. A straightforward application of Sciama's model predicts that a spectral line from neutrino decay photons should be observed from the rich galaxy cluster Abell 665 with an SNR of about 30. No such emission was detected. For neutrinos in the mass range 27.2-32.1 eV, the observations set a lower lifetime limit significantly greater than Sciama's model requires.

Galaxy interactions and strength of nuclear activity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simkin, S. M.

1990-01-01

Analysis of data in the literature for differential velocities and projected separations of nearby Seyfert galaxies with possible companions shows a clear difference in projected separations between type 1's and type 2's. This kinematic difference between the two activity classes reinforces other independent evidence that their different nuclear characteristics are related to a non-nuclear physical distinction between the two classes. The differential velocities and projected separations of the galaxy pairs in this sample yield mean galaxy masses, sizes, and mass to light ratios which are consistent with those found by the statistical methods of Karachentsev. Although the galaxy sample discussed here is too small and too poorly defined to provide robust support for these conclusions, the results strongly suggest that nuclear activity in Seyfert galaxies is associated with gravitational perturbations from companion galaxies, and that there are physical distinctions between the host companions of Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 nuclei which may depend both on the environment and the structure of the host galaxy itself.

A Deep Search for Faint Galaxies Associated with Very Low Redshift C IV Absorbers. III. The Mass- and Environment-dependent Circumgalactic Medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burchett, Joseph N.; Tripp, Todd M.; Bordoloi, Rongmon; Werk, Jessica K.; Prochaska, J. Xavier; Tumlinson, Jason; Willmer, C. N. A.; O'Meara, John; Katz, Neal

2016-12-01

Using Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph observations of 89 QSO sightlines through the Sloan Digital Sky Survey footprint, we study the relationships between C IV absorption systems and the properties of nearby galaxies, as well as the large-scale environment. To maintain sensitivity to very faint galaxies, we restrict our sample to 0.0015\\lt z\\lt 0.015, which defines a complete galaxy survey to L≳ 0.01 L\\ast or stellar mass {M}* ≳ {10}8 {M}⊙ . We report two principal findings. First, for galaxies with impact parameter ρ \\lt 1 {r}{vir}, C IV detection strongly depends on the luminosity/stellar mass of the nearby galaxy. C IV is preferentially associated with galaxies with {M}* \\gt {10}9.5 {M}⊙ ; lower-mass galaxies rarely exhibit significant C IV absorption (covering fraction {f}C={9}-6+12 % for 11 galaxies with {M}* \\lt {10}9.5 {M}⊙ ). Second, C IV detection within the {M}* \\gt {10}9.5 {M}⊙ population depends on environment. Using a fixed-aperture environmental density metric for galaxies with ρ < 160 kpc at z\\lt 0.055, we find that {57}-13+12 % (8/14) of galaxies in low-density regions (regions with fewer than seven L\\gt 0.15 L\\ast galaxies within 1.5 Mpc) have affiliated C IV absorption; however, none (0/7) of the galaxies in denser regions show C IV. Similarly, the C IV detection rate is lower for galaxies residing in groups with dark matter halo masses of {M}{halo}\\gt {10}12.5 {M}⊙ . In contrast to C IV, H I is pervasive in the circumgalactic medium without regard to mass or environment. These results indicate that C IV absorbers with {log} N({{C}} {{IV}})≳ 13.5 {{cm}}-2 trace the halos of {M}* \\gt {10}9.5 {M}⊙ galaxies but also reflect larger-scale environmental conditions.

Life and Times of the X-Ray Gas in Elliptical Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Renzini, Alvio

2000-09-01

The global gas flows in elliptical galaxies are initiated by stellar mass loss and their diagnostics rely on X-ray observations. The flows are controlled by a number of factors, including supernova heating, the depth and shape of the potential well as determined by the amount and distribution of bright and dark matter, AGN fueling and its feedback effects, interaction with the intracluster medium, and star formation. As a result no steady-state solution can satisfactorily describe the complex, evolutionary behavior of the gas flows, which can experience supersonic wind, subsonic outflow, and inflow phases, and transitions between one such flow regime to another. Having identified heating by Type Ia SN's as one of the key factors controlling the flows, constraints on its evolution with cosmological time are derived by considering the total amount of iron contained in whole clusters of galaxies, while the iron abundance in individual galaxy flows can set constraints on the present rate of SNIa's in ellipticals. The central issue of the problem remains the fate of the gas. It is argued that in one way or another, via SN-driven winds, ram pressure stripping, or AGN violent ejection, most of the gas is ultimately expelled from galaxies thus joining the intracluster medium.

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the effect of galaxy group environment on active galactic nuclei

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gordon, Yjan A.; Pimbblet, Kevin A.; Owers, Matt S.; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss; Brough, Sarah; Brown, Michael J. I.; Cluver, Michelle E.; Croom, Scott M.; Holwerda, Benne W.; Loveday, Jonathan; Mahajan, Smriti; Wang, Lingyu

2018-04-01

In galaxy clusters, efficiently accreting active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are preferentially located in the infall regions of the cluster projected phase-space, and are rarely found in the cluster core. This has been attributed to both an increase in triggering opportunities for infalling galaxies, and a reduction of those mechanisms in the hot, virialized, cluster core. Exploiting the depth and completeness (98 per cent at r < 19.8 mag) of the Galaxy And Mass Assembly survey (GAMA), we probe down the group halo mass function to assess whether AGNs are found in the same regions in groups as they are in clusters. We select 451 optical AGNs from 7498 galaxies with log10(M*/M⊙) > 9.9 in 695 groups with 11.53 ≤ log10(M200/M⊙) ≤ 14.56 at z < 0.15. By analysing the projected phase-space positions of these galaxies, we demonstrate that when split both radially, and into physically derived infalling and core populations, AGN position within group projected phase-space is dependent on halo mass. For groups with log10(M200/M⊙) > 13.5, AGNs are preferentially found in the infalling galaxy population with 3.6σ confidence. At lower halo masses, we observe no difference in AGN fraction between core and infalling galaxies. These observations support a model where a reduced number of low-speed interactions, ram pressure stripping and intra-group/cluster medium temperature, the dominance of which increase with halo mass, work to inhibit AGN in the cores of groups and clusters with log10(M200/M⊙) > 13.5, but do not significantly affect nuclear activity in cores of less massive structures.