Kinematic distance determinations in the inner Galaxy are hampered by the near-far kinematic distance ambiguity. Here we resolve the ambiguity for 49 HII region complexes with known recombination-line velocities in the first Galactic quadrant. We measured the 21cm HI absorption spectrum toward each source with the Very Large Array in the C array. The maximum velocity of HI absorption was used to discriminate between the near and far kinematic distances. The number ratio of far to near sources, ~3, can be entirely explained as a geometrical effect. The kinematic distances that we derive are compared with previous determinations for the same sources. Although our distance determinations are largely in agreement with previous measurements, there are 22 discrepancies that we discuss. Using our distance determinations, we create a face-on Galactic map of the HII region complexes and compare it with a kinematically derived profile of the distribution of CO-traced molecular hydrogen. The HII region complexes delineate the large-scale features seen in the molecular gas. The 5kpc molecular ring and the Sagittarius spiral arm are clearly evident, and a few HII region complexes lie in the Perseus arm.
NGC 205 is the nearest example of a dwarf elliptical galaxy and the prototype of this enigmatic galaxy class. Photometric evidence suggests that NGC 205, a close satellite of the M31 galaxy, is tidally interacting with its parent galaxy. We present stellar radial velocity measurements out to a projected radius of 20' (5kpc) in NGC 205 based on Keck DEIMOS multislit spectroscopic observations of 725 individual red giant branch stars. Our kinematic measurements extend from the center out to 6 times the effective radius of NGC 205, well past the expected tidal radius. The contamination in our kinematic sample from M31 field stars is estimated to be a few percent based on maximum likelihood fits to the distribution of stars in position-velocity space.
We want to make a large-scale study of the morphology, kinematics, and origin of the HI, which surrounds the Sco-Cen association. We combine our high-sensitivity southern HI survey with the Leiden/Dwingeloo Survey, considering l=240{deg}-400{deg}, b=-60{deg} to +60{deg}, and radial velocities of V=-41.8 to +40.8km/s. We point out the main HI branches surrounding the association and derive their kinematics. Kinematical HI-maps were compared with spatial maps of interstellar (IS) NaI from the literature. Upper limits for distances d were derived from optical IS absorption components from the literature. Models of expanding spherical HI shells were fitted around each stellar subgroup.
We demonstrate that it is arduous to define the {lambda} Boo stars as a class of objects exhibiting uniform abundance peculiarities which would be generated by a mechanism altering the structure of their atmospheric layers. We collected the stars classified as {lambda} Boo up to now and discuss their properties, in particular the important percentage of confirmed binaries producing composite spectra (including our adaptive optics observations) and of misclassified objects. The unexplained RV variables (and thus suspected binaries), the known SB for which we lack information on the companion, the stars with an UV flux inconsistent with their classification, and the fast rotating stars for which no accurate abundance analysis can be performed, are also reviewed.
Precise analyses of stellar radial velocities is able to reveal intrinsic causes of the wavelength shifts of spectral lines (other than Doppler shifts due to radial motion), such as gravitational redshifts and convective blueshifts. Aims. Gravitational redshifts in solar-type main-sequence stars are expected to be some 500m/s greater than those in giants. We search for this difference in redshifts among groups of open-cluster stars that share the same average space motion and thus have the same average Doppler shift.
We present radial velocity measurements of a sample of L0-L8 dwarfs observed with VLT/UVES and Keck/HIRES. We combine these measurements with distance and proper motion from the literature to determine space motions for 43 of our targets. We identify nine candidate members of young moving groups, which have ages of 50-600Myr according to their space motion.
We present new radial velocities for 289 globular clusters around NGC 4636, the southernmost giant elliptical galaxy of the Virgo cluster. The data were obtained with FORS2/MXU at the Very Large Telescope. Together with data analysed in an earlier study, we now have a sample of 460 globular cluster velocities out to a radius of 12-arcmin (60kpc) available - one of the largest of its kind. This new data set also provides a much more complete angular coverage. Moreover, we present new kinematical data of the inner stellar population of NGC 4636. We perform an updated Jeans analysis, using both stellar and GC data, to better constrain the dark halo properties.
Globular clusters (GCs) are tracers of the gravitational potential of their host galaxies. Moreover, their kinematic properties may provide clues for understanding the formation of GC systems and their host galaxies. We use the largest set of GC velocities obtained so far of any elliptical galaxy to revise and extend the previous investigations (Richtler et al., 2004AJ....127.2094R) of the dynamics of NGC 1399, the central dominant galaxy of the nearby Fornax cluster of galaxies. The GC velocities are used to study the kinematics, their relation with population properties, and the dark matter halo of NGC 1399. We have obtained 477 new medium-resolution spectra (of these, 292 are spectra from 265 individual GCs, 241 of which are not in the previous data set). with the VLT FORS 2 and Gemini South GMOS multi--object spectrographs. We revise velocities for the old spectra and measure velocities for the new spectra, using the same templates to obtain an homogeneously treated data set. Our entire sample now comprises velocities for almost 700 GCs with projected galactocentric radii between 6 and 100kpc. In addition, we use velocities of GCs at larger distances published by Bergond et al. (2007, Cat. J/A+A/464/L21). Combining the kinematic data with wide-field photometric Washington data, we study the kinematics of the metal-poor and metal--rich subpopulations. We discuss in detail the velocity dispersions of subsamples and perform spherical Jeans modelling.
We investigate the manner in which lenticular galaxies are formed by studying their stellar kinematics: an S0 formed from a fading spiral galaxy should display similar cold outer disc kinematics to its progenitor, while an S0 formed in a minor merger should be more dominated by random motions. In a pilot study to attempt to distinguish between these scenarios, we have measured the planetary nebula (PN) kinematics of the nearby S0 system NGC 1023. Using the Planetary Nebula Spectrograph, we have detected and measured the line-of-sight velocities of 204 candidate PNe in the field of this galaxy. Out to intermediate radii, the system displays the kinematics of a normal rotationally-supported disc system. After correction of its rotational velocities for asymmetric drift, the galaxy lies just below the spiral galaxy Tully-Fisher relation, as one would expect for a fading system. However, at larger radii the kinematics undergo a gradual but major transition to random motion with little rotation. This transition does not seem to reflect a change in the viewing geometry or the presence of a distinct halo component, since the number counts of PNe follow the same simple exponential decline as the stellar continuum with the same projected disc ellipticity out to large radii. The galaxy's small companion, NGC 1023A, does not seem to be large enough to have caused the observed modification either. This combination of properties would seem to indicate a complex evolutionary history in either the transition to form an S0 or in the past life of the spiral galaxy from which the S0 formed. More data sets of this type from both spirals and S0s are needed in order to definitively determine the relationship between these types of system.
Observations are reported of H_2_ IR emission in the S(1) v=1-0 line at 2.121{mu}m in the Orion Molecular Cloud, OMC1, using the GriF instrument on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. GriF uses a combination of adaptive optics and Fabry-Perot interferometry, yielding a spatial resolution of 0.15" to 0.18" and velocity discrimination as high as 1km/s. 193 bright H_2_ emission regions can be identified in OMC1. The general characteristics of these features are described in terms of radial velocities, brightness and spatial displacement of maxima of velocity and brightness, the latter to yield the orientation of flows in the plane of the sky. Strong spatial correlation between velocity and bright H_2_ emission is found and serves to identify many features as shocks.
