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1171. HST/ACS observations of NGC 346
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/166/549
Title:
HST/ACS observations of NGC 346
Short Name:
J/ApJS/166/549
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We present a photometric study of the star-forming region NGC 346 and its surrounding field in the Small Magellanic Cloud, using data taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The data set contains both short and long exposures for increased dynamic range, and photometry was performed using the ACS module of the stellar photometry package DOLPHOT. We detected almost 100,000 stars over a magnitude range of V~11 to V~28 mag, including all stellar types from the most massive young stars to faint lower main-sequence and pre-main-sequence stars. We find that this region, which is characterized by a plethora of stellar systems and interesting objects, is an outstanding example of mixed stellar populations. We take into account different features of the color-magnitude diagram of all the detected stars to distinguish the two dominant stellar systems: the stellar association NGC 346 and the old spherical star cluster BS 90. These observations provide a complete stellar sample of a field about 5'x5' around the most active star-forming region in this galaxy. Considering the importance of these data for various investigations in the area, we provide the full stellar catalog from our photometry. This paper is the first part of an ongoing study to investigate in detail the two dominant stellar systems in the area and their surrounding field.
1172. HST/ACS one-year observations of M51 stars
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/864/111
Title:
HST/ACS one-year observations of M51 stars
Short Name:
J/ApJ/864/111
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
Stellar photometric variability offers a novel probe of the interior structure and evolutionary state of stars. Here we present a census of stellar variability on day to decade timescales across the color-magnitude diagram (CMD) for 73000 stars brighter than M_I,814_=-5 in the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51). Our Cycle 24 Hubble Space Telescope (HST) program acquired V606- and I814-band images over 34 epochs spanning 1 year with pseudo-random cadences enabling sensitivity to periods from days to months. We supplement these data with archival V- and I-band HST data obtained in 1995 and 2005, providing sensitivity to variability on decade timescales. At least 50% of stars brighter than M_I,814_=-7 show strong evidence for variability within our Cycle 24 data; among stars with V_606_-I_814_>2 the variability fraction rises to ~100%. Large amplitude variability (>0.3mag) on decade timescales is restricted to red supergiants (RSGs) and very luminous blue stars. Both populations display fairly smooth variability on month-year timescales. The Cepheid instability strip is clearly visible in our data, although the variability fraction within this region never exceeds ~10%. The location of variable stars across the CMD broadly agrees with theoretical sources of variability, including the instability strip, RSG pulsational instabilities, long-period fundamental mode pulsations, and radiation-dominated envelopes in massive stars. Our data can be used to place stringent constraints on the precise onset of these various instabilities and their lifetimes and growth rates.
1173. HST BVI catalogue of star clusters in 5 HCGs
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/449/2937
Title:
HST BVI catalogue of star clusters in 5 HCGs
Short Name:
J/MNRAS/449/2937
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We present a photometric catalogue of star cluster candidates in Hickson compact groups (HCGs) 7, 31, 42, 59, and 92, based on observations with the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope. The catalogue contains precise cluster positions (right ascension and declination), magnitudes, and colours in the BVI filters. The number of detected sources ranges from 2200 to 5600 per group, from which we construct the high-confidence sample by applying a number of criteria designed to reduce foreground and background contaminants. Furthermore, the high-confidence cluster candidates for each of the 16 galaxies in our sample are split into two subpopulations: one that may contain young star clusters and one that is dominated by globular older clusters. The ratio of young star cluster to globular cluster candidates varies from group to group, from equal numbers to the extreme of HCG 31 which has a ratio of 8 to 1, due to a recent starburst induced by interactions in the group. We find that the number of blue clusters with M_V_<-9 correlates well with the current star formation rate in an individual galaxy, while the number of globular cluster candidates with M_V_<-7.8 correlates well (though with large scatter) with the stellar mass. Analyses of the high-confidence sample presented in this paper show that star clusters can be successfully used to infer the gross star formation history of the host groups and therefore determine their placement in a proposed evolutionary sequence for compact galaxy groups.
1174. HST BVI photometry of M 81 star clusters
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/122/1330
Title:
HST BVI photometry of M 81 star clusters
Short Name:
J/AJ/122/1330
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
In this paper, we present the discovery of 114 compact star clusters in the nearby spiral galaxy M81 from B-, V-, and I-band Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 imaging in eight fields, covering a total area of ~40arcmin^2^. The fields sample a variety of environments (both spiral and interarm regions), as well as a range of projected galactocentric distances from 2 to 12kpc. The sample is complete to V~22, deeper by ~1mag than any previous cluster survey in M81. We present details of the separation of clusters from both stellar sources and background galaxies, which has been based solely on structural parameters and morphology and not using any color cuts, as is necessary for ground-based surveys. We present magnitudes and colors of detected clusters. Surface brightness profiles are compared with single-mass King models, giving a range of core radii for the clusters in our sample between 0.2 and 7pc.
1175. HST & Chandra obs. of elliptical galaxies
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/248/31
Title:
HST & Chandra obs. of elliptical galaxies
Short Name:
J/ApJS/248/31
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We investigate X-ray binary (XRB) luminosity function (XLF) scaling relations for Chandra-detected populations of low-mass XRBs (LMXBs) within the footprints of 24 early-type galaxies. Our sample includes Chandra and Hubble Space Telescope observed galaxies at D<~25Mpc that have estimates of the globular cluster (GC) specific frequency (S_N_) reported in the literature. As such, we are able to directly classify X-ray-detected sources as being coincident with unrelated background/foreground objects, GCs, or sources that are within the fields of the galaxy targets. We model the GC and field LMXB population XLFs for all galaxies separately and then construct global models characterizing how the LMXB XLFs vary with galaxy stellar mass and S_N_. We find that our field LMXB XLF models require a component that scales with S_N_ and has a shape consistent with that found for the GC LMXB XLF. We take this to indicate that GCs are "seeding" the galactic field LMXB population, through the ejection of GC LMXBs and/or the diffusion of the GCs in the galactic fields themselves. However, we also find that an important LMXB XLF component is required for all galaxies that scales with stellar mass, implying that a substantial population of LMXBs are formed "in situ," which dominates the LMXB population emission for galaxies with S_N_<~2. For the first time, we provide a framework quantifying how directly associated GC LMXBs, GC-seeded LMXBs, and in situ LMXBs contribute to LMXB XLFs in the broader early-type galaxy population.
1176. HST/COS UV obs. of low-z SDSS galaxy groups
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/240/15
Title:
HST/COS UV obs. of low-z SDSS galaxy groups
Short Name:
J/ApJS/240/15
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
A small survey of the UV-absorbing gas in 12 low-z galaxy groups has been conducted using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope. Targets were selected from a large, homogeneously selected sample of groups found in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. A critical selection criterion excluded sight lines that pass close (<1.5 virial radii) to a group galaxy, to ensure absorber association with the group as a whole. Deeper galaxy redshift observations are used both to search for closer galaxies and also to characterize these 10^13.5^-10^14.5^M_{sun}_ groups, the most massive of which are highly virialized with numerous early-type galaxies (ETGs). This sample also includes two spiral-rich groups, not yet fully virialized. At group-centric impact parameters of 0.3-2Mpc, these signal-to-noise ratios = 15-30 spectra detected HI absorption in 7 of 12 groups; high (OVI) and low (SiIII) ion metal lines are present in two-thirds of the absorption components. None of the three most highly virialized, ETG-dominated groups are detected in absorption. Covering fractions >~50% are seen at all impact parameters probed, but do not require large filling factors despite an enormous extent. Unlike halo clouds in individual galaxies, group absorbers have radial velocities that are too low to escape the group potential well without doubt. This suggests that these groups are "closed boxes" for galactic evolution in the current epoch. Evidence is presented that the cool and warm group absorbers are not a pervasive intra-group medium (IGrM), requiring a hotter (T~10^6^-10^7^K) IGrM to be present to close the baryon accounting.
1177. HST-COS UV spectra observations of AGNs
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/794/75
Title:
HST-COS UV spectra observations of AGNs
Short Name:
J/ApJ/794/75
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
The ionizing fluxes from quasars and other active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are critical for interpreting their emission-line spectra and for photoionizing and heating the intergalactic medium. Using far-ultraviolet (FUV) spectra from the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), we directly measure the rest-frame ionizing continua and emission lines for 159 AGNs at redshifts 0.001<z_AGN_<1.476 and construct a composite spectrum from 475 to 1875 {AA}. We identify the underlying AGN continuum and strong extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission lines from ions of oxygen, neon, and nitrogen after masking out absorption lines from the H I Ly{alpha} forest, 7 Lyman-limit systems (N_HI_>=10^17.2^/cm2) and 214 partial Lyman-limit systems (14.5<logN_HI_<17.2). The 159 AGNs exhibit a wide range of FUV/EUV spectral shapes, F_v_{propto}{nu}^{alpha}_{nu}_^, typically with -2<={alpha}_{nu}_<=0 and no discernible continuum edges at 912 {AA} (H I) or 504 {AA} (He I). The composite rest-frame continuum shows a gradual break at {lambda}_br_{approx} 1000 {AA}, with mean spectral index {alpha}_{nu}_=-0.83+/-0.09 in the FUV (1200-2000 {AA}) steepening to {alpha}_{nu}_=-1.41+/-0.15 in the EUV (500-1000 {AA}). We discuss the implications of the UV flux turnovers and lack of continuum edges for the structure of accretion disks, AGN mass inflow rates, and luminosities relative to Eddington values.
1178. HST emission line survey of Andromeda. I. Be stars
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/159/119
Title:
HST emission line survey of Andromeda. I. Be stars
Short Name:
J/AJ/159/119
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We present results from a two epoch Hubble Space Telescope H{alpha} emission line survey of the Andromeda galaxy that overlaps the footprint of the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) survey. We found 552 (542) classical Be stars and 8429 (8556) normal B-type stars in epoch 1 (epoch 2), yielding an overall fractional Be content of 6.15%{+/-}0.26% (5.96%{+/-}0.25%). The fractional Be content decreased with spectral subtype from ~23.6%{+/-}2.0% (~23.9%{+/-}2.0%) for B0-type stars to ~3.1%{+/-}0.34% (~3.4%{+/-}0.35%) for B8-type stars in epoch 1 (epoch 2). We observed a clear population of cluster Be stars at early fractional main-sequence lifetimes, indicating that a subset of Be stars emerge onto the zero-age main sequence as rapid rotators. Be stars are 2.8x rarer in M31 for the earliest subtypes compared to the Small Magellanic Cloud, confirming that the fractional Be content decreases in significantly more metal-rich environments (like the Milky Way and M31). However, M31 does not follow a clear trend of Be fraction decreasing with metallicity compared to the Milky Way, which may reflect that the Be phenomenon is enhanced with evolutionary age. The rate of disk-loss or disk-regeneration episodes we observed, 22%{+/-}2%/yr, is similar to that observed for seven other Galactic clusters reported in the literature, assuming these latter transient fractions scale by a linear rate. The similar number of disk-loss events (57) as disk-renewal events (43) was unexpected since disk dissipation timescales can be ~2x the typical timescales for disk build-up phases.
1179. HST FGS-1r parallaxes for 8 metal-poor stars
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/835/152
Title:
HST FGS-1r parallaxes for 8 metal-poor stars
Short Name:
J/ApJ/835/152
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
Hubble Space Telescope (HST) fine guidance sensor observations were used to obtain parallaxes of eight metal-poor ([Fe/H]< -1.4) stars. The parallaxes of these stars determined by the new Hipparcos reduction average 17% accuracy, in contrast to our new HST parallaxes, which average 1% accuracy and have errors on the individual parallaxes ranging from 85 to 144{mu}as. These parallax data were combined with HST Advanced Camera for Surveys photometry in the F606W and F814W filters to obtain the absolute magnitudes of the stars with an accuracy of 0.02-0.03 mag. Six of these stars are on the main sequence (MS) (with -2.7<[Fe/H]< -1.8) and are suitable for testing metal-poor stellar evolution models and determining the distances to metal-poor globular clusters (GCs). Using the abundances obtained by O'Malley+ (2017ApJ...838...90O), we find that standard stellar models using the VandenBerg & Clem (2003AJ....126..778V) color transformation do a reasonable job of matching five of the MS stars, with HD 54639 ([Fe/H]=-2.5) being anomalous in its location in the color-magnitude diagram. Stellar models and isochrones were generated using a Monte Carlo analysis to take into account uncertainties in the models. Isochrones that fit the parallax stars were used to determine the distances and ages of nine GCs (with -2.4{<=}[Fe/H]{<=}-1.9). Averaging together the age of all nine clusters led to an absolute age of the oldest, most metal-poor GCs of 12.7+/-1.0Gyr, where the quoted uncertainty takes into account the known uncertainties in the stellar models and isochrones, along with the uncertainty in the distance and reddening of the clusters.
1180. HST imaging survey of low-z Swift-BAT AGNs
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/256/40
Title:
HST imaging survey of low-z Swift-BAT AGNs
Short Name:
J/ApJS/256/40
Date:
03 Mar 2022 00:28:07
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We present initial results from a Hubble Space Telescope snapshot imaging survey of the host galaxies of Swift-BAT active galactic nuclei (AGN) at z<0.1. The hard X-ray selection makes this sample relatively unbiased in terms of obscuration, compared to optical AGN selection methods. The high-resolution images of 154 target AGN enable us to investigate the detailed photometric structure of the host galaxies, such as the Hubble type and merging features. We find 48% and 44% of the sample to be hosted by early-type and late-type galaxies, respectively. The host galaxies of the remaining 8% of the sample are classified as peculiar galaxies because they are heavily disturbed. Only a minor fraction of host galaxies (18%-25%) exhibit merging features (e.g., tidal tails, shells, or major disturbance). The merging fraction increases strongly as a function of bolometric AGN luminosity, revealing that merging plays an important role in triggering luminous AGN in this sample. However, the merging fraction is weakly correlated with the Eddington ratio, suggesting that merging does not necessarily lead to an enhanced Eddington ratio. Type 1 and Type 2 AGN are almost indistinguishable in terms of their Hubble type distribution and merging fraction. However, the merging fraction of Type 2 AGN peaks at a lower bolometric luminosity compared with those of Type 1 AGN. This result may imply that the triggering mechanism and evolutionary stages of Type 1 and Type 2 AGN are not identical.