We are conducting COLD GASS, a legacy survey for molecular gas in nearby galaxies. Using the IRAM 30-m telescope, we measure the CO(1-0) line in a sample of ~350 nearby (D_I_~=100-200Mpc), massive galaxies (log(M*/M_{sun}_)>10.0). The sample is selected purely according to stellar mass, and therefore provides an unbiased view of molecular gas in these systems. By combining the IRAM data with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) photometry and spectroscopy, GALEX imaging and high-quality Arecibo HI data, we investigate the partition of condensed baryons between stars, atomic gas and molecular gas in 0.1-10L* galaxies. In this paper, we present CO luminosities and molecular hydrogen masses for the first 222 galaxies. Description: To overcome this issue, the GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey (GASS; Catinella et al. 2010, Cat. J/MNRAS/403/683) was designed to measure the neutral hydrogen content for a large, unbiased sample of ~1000 massive galaxies (M*>10^10^M_{sun}_), via longer pointed observations. GASS is a large programme currently under way at the Arecibo 305-m telescope, and is producing some of the first unbiased atomic gas scaling relations in the nearby Universe (Catinella et al. 2010, Cat. J/MNRAS/403/683; Schiminovich et al., 2010MNRAS.408..919S; Fabello et al., 2011MNRAS.411..993F). We are in the process of constructing a CO Legacy Data base for the GASS survey (COLD GASS), measuring the molecular gas content of a significant subsample of the GASS galaxies. We will then be able to quantify the link between atomic gas, molecular gas and stars in these systems.
We use velocity and metallicity information from Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration stellar spectroscopy to fit an orbit to the narrow 63{deg} stellar stream of Grillmair and Dionatos (GD; 2006ApJ...643L..17G). The stars in the stream have a retrograde orbit with eccentricity e=0.33 (perigalacticon of 14.4kpc and apogalacticon of 28.7kpc) and inclination approximately i~35{deg}. In the region of the orbit which is detected, it has a distance of about 7-11kpc from the Sun. Assuming a standard disk plus bulge and logarithmic halo potential for the Milky Way stars plus dark matter, the stream stars are moving with a large space velocity of approximately 276km/s at perigalacticon. Using this stream alone, we are unable to determine if the dark matter halo is oblate or prolate. The metallicity of the stream is [Fe/H]=-2.1+/-0.1. Observed proper motions for individual stream members above the main sequence turnoff are consistent with the derived orbit. None of the known globular clusters in the Milky Way have positions, radial velocities, and metallicities that are consistent with being the progenitor of the GD-1 stream.
We report the first successful application of the astrometric color-induced displacement technique (CID, the displacement of the photocenter between different band-passes dur to a varying contribution of differently colored components to the total light), originally proposed by Wielen (1996A&A...314..679W) for discovering unresolved binary stars.
We extend color-magnitude relations for moderate-luminosity X-ray active galactic nucleus (AGN) hosts and non-AGN galaxies through the galaxy formation epoch (z~1-4) in the Chandra Deep Field-North and Chandra Deep Field-South (CDF-N and CDF-S, respectively; jointly CDFs) surveys. This study was enabled by the deepest available X-ray data from the 2Ms CDF surveys as well as complementary ultradeep multiwavelength data in these regions. We utilized analyses of color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) to assess the role of moderate-luminosity AGNs in galaxy evolution.
As part of the SAGES Legacy Unifying Globulars and GalaxieS (SLUGGS) survey, we stack 1137 Keck DEIMOS (Deep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph) spectra of globular clusters from 10 galaxies to study their stellar populations in detail. The stacked spectra have median signal-to-noise ratios of ~90 {AA}^-1^. Besides the calcium triplet, we study weaker sodium, magnesium, titanium and iron lines as well as the H{alpha} and higher order Paschen hydrogen lines. In general, the stacked spectra are consistent with old ages and a Milky Way-like initial mass function. However, we see different metal line index strengths at fixed colour and magnitude, and differences in the calcium triplet-colour relation from galaxy to galaxy. We interpret this as strong evidence for variations in the globular cluster colour-metallicity relation between galaxies. Two possible explanations for the colour-metallicity relation variations are that the average ages of globular clusters vary from galaxy to galaxy or that the average abundances of light elements (i.e. He, C, N and O) differ between galaxies. Stacking spectra by magnitude, we see that the colours become redder and metal line indices stronger with brighter magnitudes. These trends are consistent with the previously reported `blue tilts' being mass-metallicity relations.
We report early results on galaxies at z~6 selected from Hubble Space Telescope imaging for the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey. Spectroscopy of one object with the Advanced Camera for Surveys grism and from the Keck and Very Large Telescope observatories shows a strong continuum break and asymmetric line emission, identified as Ly{alpha} at z=5.83. We find only five spatially extended candidates with signal-to-noise ratios greater than 10, two of which have spectroscopic confirmation. This is much fewer than would be expected if galaxies at z=6 had the same luminosity function as those at z=3. There are many fainter candidates, but we expect substantial contamination from foreground interlopers and spurious detections. Our best estimates favor a z=6 galaxy population with fainter luminosities, higher space density, and similar comoving ultraviolet emissivity to that at z=3, but this depends critically on counts at fluxes fainter than those reliably probed by the current data.
The CoNFIG (Combined NVSS-FIRST Galaxies) sample is a new sample of 274 bright radio sources at 1.4GHz. It was defined by selecting all sources with S1.4GHz-1.3Jy from the NRAO Very Large Array (VLA) Sky Survey (NVSS) in the north field of the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty centimetres (FIRST) survey. New radio observations obtained with the VLA for 31 of the sources are presented. The sample has complete Fanaroff-Riley (FRI)/FRII morphology identification; optical identifications and redshifts are available for 80 and 89 per cent of the sample, respectively, yielding a mean redshift of ~0.71. One of the goals of this survey is to get better definitions of luminosity distributions and source counts of FRI/FRII sources separately, in order to determine the evolution of the luminosity function for each type of source. We present a preliminary analysis, showing that these data are an important step towards examining various evolutionary schemes for these objects and to confirm or correct the dual population unified scheme for radio active galactic nuclei (AGN). Improving our understanding of radio galaxy evolution will give better insight into the role of AGN feedback in galaxy formation.
This paper focuses on a comparison of the space densities of Fanaroff-Riley type I (FR I) and FR II sources at different epochs, with a particular focus on FR I sources. First, we present the concluding steps in constructing the Combined NVSS-FIRST Galaxies (CoNFIG) catalogue, including new Very Large Array observations, optical identifications and redshift estimates. The final catalogue consists of 859 sources over four samples (CoNFIG-1, -2, -3 and -4 with flux density limits of S1.4GHz=1.3, 0.8, 0.2 and 0.05Jy, respectively). It is 95.7 per cent complete in radio morphology classification and 74.3 per cent of the sources have redshift data. Combining CoNFIG with complementary samples, the distribution and evolution of FR I and FR II sources are investigated. We find that FR I sources undergo mild evolution and that, at the same radio luminosity, FR I and FR II sources show similar space density enhancements in various redshift ranges, possibly implying a common evolution.
The characteristics of the stellar populations in the Galactic bulge inform and constrain the Milky Way's formation and evolution. The metal-poor population is particularly important in light of cosmological simulations, which predict that some of the oldest stars in the Galaxy now reside in its centre. The metal-poor bulge appears to consist of multiple stellar populations that require dynamical analyses to disentangle. In this work, we undertake a detailed chemodynamical study of the metal-poor stars in the inner Galaxy. Using R ~ 20 000 VLT/GIRAFFE spectra of 319 metal-poor (-2.55dex<=[Fe/H]<=0.83dex, with mean [Fe/H]=-0.84dex) stars, we perform stellar parameter analysis and report 12 elemental abundances (C, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, Cr, Mn, Zn, Ba, and Ce) with precisions of ~0.10 dex. Based on kinematic and spatial properties, we categorize the stars into four groups, associated with the following Galactic structures: the inner bulge, the outer bulge, the halo, and the disc. We find evidence that the inner and outer bulge population is more chemically complex (i.e. higher chemical dimensionality and less correlated abundances) than the halo population. This result suggests that the older bulge population was enriched by a larger diversity of nucleosynthetic events. We also find one inner bulge star with a [Ca/Mg] ratio consistent with theoretical pair-instability supernova yields and two stars that have chemistry consistent with globular cluster stars.
Chemistry and kinematic studies can determine the origins of stellar population across the Milky Way. The metallicity distribution function of the bulge indicates that it comprises multiple populations, the more metal-poor end of which is particularly poorly understood. It is currently unknown if metal-poor bulge stars ([Fe/H]<-1dex) are part of the stellar halo in the inner most region, or a distinct bulge population or a combination of these. Cosmological simulations also indicate that the metal-poor bulge stars may be the oldest stars in the Galaxy. In this study, we successfully target metal-poor bulge stars selected using SkyMapper photometry. We determine the stellar parameters of 26 stars and their elemental abundances for 22 elements using R~47000 VLT/UVES spectra and contrast their elemental properties with that of other Galactic stellar populations. We find that the elemental abundances we derive for our metal-poor bulge stars have lower overall scatter than typically found in the halo. This indicates that these stars may be a distinct population confined to the bulge. If these stars are, alternatively, part of the inner-most distribution of the halo, this indicates that the halo is more chemically homogeneous at small Galactic radii than at large radii. We also find two stars whose chemistry is consistent with second-generation globular cluster stars. This paper is the first part of the Chemical Origins of Metal-poor Bulge Stars (COMBS) survey that will chemo-dynamically characterize the metal-poor bulge population.
