Dissolving stellar groups are very difficult to detect using traditional surface photometry techniques. We have developed a method to find and characterize non-compact stellar systems in galaxies where the young stellar population can be spatially resolved. By carrying out photometry on individual stars, we are able to separate the luminous blue stellar population from the star field background. The locations of these stars are used to identify groups by applying the HOP algorithm, which are then characterized using color-magnitude and stellar density radial profiles to estimate age, size, density, and shape. We test the method on Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys archival images of IC 2574 and find 75 dispersed stellar groups. Of these, 20 highly dispersed groups are good candidates for dissolving systems. We find few compact systems with evidence of dissolution, potentially indicating that star formation in this galaxy occurs mostly in unbound clusters or groups. These systems indicate that the dispersion rate of groups and clusters in IC 2574 is at most 0.45pc/Myr. The location of the groups found with HOP correlate well with HI contour map features. However, they do not coincide with HI holes, suggesting that those holes were not created by star-forming regions.
Stellar groups in Taurus field from Gaia DR2 & LAMOST
Short Name:
J/ApJS/254/20
Date:
17 Jan 2022 14:18:37
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
In this work, we present a systematic search for stellar groups in the Taurus field by applying the DBSCAN algorithm to the data from Gaia DR2. We find 22 groups, consisting of 8 young groups (Groups 1-8) at ages of 2-4Myr and distances of ~130-170pc, and 14 old groups (Groups 9-22) at ages of 8-49Myr and distances of ~110-210pc. We characterize the disk properties of group members and find 19 new disk-bearing stars, 8 of which are in the young groups with 11 others belonging to the comparatively old groups at the ages of 8-11Myr. We characterize the accretion properties of the group members with H{alpha} emission lines in their Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope spectra, and discover one source in Group 10 at an age of 10Myr which still shows accretion activity. We investigate the kinematic relations among the old groups, find that Group 9 is kinematically related to the known Taurus members, and exclude any kinematic relations between Groups 10-22 and the known Taurus members.
The region of Orion's Sword with coordinates RA=83.79{deg}, DE=-5.20{deg} and a size of 1.0{deg}x2.5{deg} is analyzed. We compiled a master catalog of stars observed in the optical, containing positions, proper motions, and UBV photometry for 1634 stars. Using the nearest-neighbor-distance technique, we subdivided the region into stellar groups with different numbers of members. The positions of five groups coincide with known clusters, and two groups coincide with aggregates of stars with H{alpha} emission. We have identified groups with low membership that are moving away from the system. We also considered the kinematic structure of the groups using the AD-diagram method we developed earlier. Most of the stellar clusters and groups display similar kinematics, with the exception of the group OMC-2, which is moving toward its own apex. We also confirmed the existence of the kinematic star group 189 discovered earlier; its position is close to the cluster NGC 1977, and it is probably a component of its corona.
The extended stellar halos of galaxies contain important clues for investigating their assembly history and evolution. We investigate the resolved stellar content and the extended halo of NGC 5128 as a function of galactocentric distance, and trace the halo outward to its currently detectable limits. We used Hubble Space Telescope images obtained with the WFPC2, ACS, and WFC3 cameras equipped with F606W and F814W filters to resolve individual red giant branch (RGB) stars in 28 independent pointings across the halo of NGC 5128. The stellar halo analysis for 14 of these pointings is presented here for the first time. Star counts from deep VI color-magnitude diagrams reaching at least 1.5mag below the tip of the RGB are used to derive the surface density distribution of the halo. The contamination by Milky Way stars is assessed with a new control field, with models, and by combining optical and near-IR photometry. We present a new calibration of the WFC3 F606W + F814W photometry to the ground-based VI photometric system. The photometry shows that the stellar halo of NGC 5128 is dominated by old RGB stars that are present in all fields. The V-band surface brightness of fields changes from 23 to 32mag/arcsec^2^ between the innermost field only 8.3kpc from the galaxy center to our outermost halo fields, which are located 140 kpc away from the center along the major axis and 92 kpc along the minor axis. Within the inner ~30kpc, we also find evidence for a 2-3Gyr old population traced by asymptotic giant branch stars that are brighter than the tip of the RGB. This population contributes only up to 10% in total stellar mass if it is 2Gyr old, but a larger fraction of 30-40% is required if its age is 3Gyr. The stellar surface density profile is well fit by a classic r^1/4^ curve or a simple power-law form ~r^-3.1^ over the full radial range, with no obvious break in the slope, but with large field-to-field scatter. The ellipticity measured from integrated-light photometry in the inner parts, e=(b/a)=0.77, flattens to e=0.54+/-0.02 beyond 30kpc. Considering the flattening of the outer halo, the projection of the elliptical isophote on the semimajor axis for our most distant field reaches nearly 30 effective radii.
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is a key parameter for studying galaxy evolution. Here we measure the IMF mass normalization for a sample of 68 field galaxies in the redshift range 0.7-0.9 within the Extended Groth Strip. To do this we derive the total (stellar + dark matter) mass-to-light [(M/L)] ratio using axisymmetric dynamical models. Within the region where we have kinematics (about one half-light radius), the models assume (1) that mass follows light, implying negligible differences between the slope of the stellar and total density profiles, (2) constant velocity anisotropy ({beta}_z_=1-{sigma}_z_^2^/{sigma}_R_^2^=0.2), and (3) that galaxies are seen at the average inclination for random orientations (i.e., i=60{deg}, where i=90{deg} represents edge-on). The dynamical models are based on anisotropic Jeans equations, constrained by Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys imaging and the central velocity dispersion of the galaxies, extracted from good-quality spectra taken by the DEEP2 survey. The population (M/L) are derived from full-spectrum fitting of the same spectra with a grid of simple stellar population models. Recent dynamical modeling results from the ATLAS^3D^ project and numerical simulations of galaxy evolution indicate that the dark matter fraction within the central regions of our galaxies should be small. This suggests that our derived total (M/L) should closely approximate the stellar M/L. Our comparison of the dynamical (M/L) and the population (M/L) then implies that for galaxies with stellar mass M_*_>~10^11^ M_{sun}_, the average normalization of the IMF is consistent with a Salpeter slope, with a substantial scatter. This is similar to what is found within a similar mass range for nearby galaxies.
We present an analysis of nine S0-Sb galaxies which have (photometric) bulges consisting of two distinct components. The outer component is a flattened, kinematically cool, disc-like structure: a 'discy pseudo-bulge'. Embedded inside is a rounder, kinematically hot spheroidal structure: a `classical bulge'. This indicates that pseudo-bulges and classical bulges are not mutually exclusive phenomena: some galaxies have both. The discy pseudo-bulges almost always consist of an exponential disc (scalelengths=125-870 pc, mean size ~440 pc) with one or more disc-related subcomponents: nuclear rings, nuclear bars, and/or spiral arms. They constitute 11-59 percent of the galaxy stellar mass (mean PB/T=0.33), with stellar masses ~7x10^9^-9x10^10^ M_{sun}_. The classical-bulge components have Sersic indices of 0.9-2.2, effective radii of 25-430 pc and stellar masses of 5x10^8^-3x10^10^ M_{sun}_; they are usually <10 percent of the galaxy's stellar mass (mean B/T=0.06). The classical bulges do show rotation, but are clearly kinematically hotter than the discy pseudo-bulges. Dynamical modelling of three systems indicates that velocity dispersions are isotropic in the classical bulges and equatorially biased in the discy pseudo-bulges. In the mass-radius and mass-stellar mass density planes, classical-bulge components follow sequences defined by ellipticals and (larger) classical bulges. Discy pseudo-bulges also fall on this sequence; they are more compact than large-scale discs of similar mass. Although some classical bulges are quite compact, they are as a class clearly distinct from nuclear star clusters in both size and mass; in at least two galaxies they coexist with nuclear clusters. Since almost all the galaxies in this study are barred, they probably also host boxy/peanut-shaped bulges (vertically thickened inner parts of bars). NGC 3368 shows isophotal evidence for such a zone just outside its discy pseudo-bulge, making it a clear case of a galaxy with all three types of 'bulge'.
We present the stellar kinematic maps of a large sample of galaxies from the integral-field spectroscopic survey CALIFA. The sample comprises 300 galaxies displaying a wide range of morphologies across the Hubble sequence, from ellipticals to late-type spirals. This dataset allows us to homogeneously extract stellar kinematics up to several effective radii. In this paper, we describe the level of completeness of this subset of galaxies with respect to the full CALIFA sample, as well as the virtues and limitations of the kinematic extraction compared to other well-known integral-field surveys. In addition, we provide averaged integrated velocity dispersion radial profiles for different galaxy types, which are particularly useful to apply aperture corrections for single aperture measurements or poorly resolved stellar kinematics of high-redshift sources. The work presented in this paper sets the basis for the study of more general properties of galaxies that will be explored in subsequent papers of the survey.
We present the results of absorption spectroscopy on the inner region of 34 Sa-Sc galaxies. We have determined the central velocity dispersion and, for 32 of these objects, stellar rotation curves and velocity-dispersion profiles. Some of these profiles are limited to the bulge, some others do reach a region dominated by the luminosity of the disk. These data are intended to provide basic material for the study of the mass distribution and dynamical status in the central regions of spiral galaxies. Although no elaborate bulge-and-disk photometric decomposition is performed, we estimate the effects of limited resolution and contamination by disk light on the central velocity dispersion of the bulge.
We present a second dataset of absorption spectroscopy on the inner region of spiral galaxies. We have determined the central velocity dispersion for 42 Sa-Sc objects and, for 32 of them, stellar rotation curves and velocity-dispersion profiles. Some of these profiles are limited to the bulge, some others do reach a region dominated by the luminosity of the disk. These data are intended to provide basic material for the study of the mass distribution and dynamical status in the central regions of spiral galaxies. Although no elaborate bulge-and-disk photometric decomposition is performed, we estimate the effects of limited resolution and contamination by disk light on the central velocity dispersion of the bulge. All the material presented in this paper, in particular the spectra, is available on-line.
More than 600 high resolution spectra of stars with spectral type F and later were obtained in order to search for signatures of differential rotation in line profiles. In 147 stars the rotation law could be measured, with 28 of them found to be differentially rotating.