The UCD resolver uses the metadata in the current
Registry to suggest UCDs pertinent to natural language column descriptions.
In that, it fulfills a similar function as the `CDS UCD builder`_
but uses an entirely different approach.
.. _CDS UCD builder: http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/UCD/cgi-bin/descr2ucd
We present a novel approach to constrain the formation channels of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs). They most probably are an inhomogeneous class of objects, composed of remnants of tidally stripped dwarf elliptical galaxies and star clusters that occupy the high mass end of the globular cluster luminosity function. We use three methods to unravel their nature: 1) we analyzed their surface brightness profiles; 2) we carried out a direct search for tidal features around UCDs; and 3) we compared the spatial distribution of GCs and UCDs in the halo of their host galaxy. Based on FORS2 observations under excellent seeing conditions, we studied the detailed structural composition of a large sample of 97 UCDs in the halo of NGC1399, the central galaxy of the Fornax cluster, by analyzing their surface brightness profiles. We found that 13 of the UCDs were resolved above the resolution limit of 23pc and we derived their structural parameters fitting a single Sersic function. When decomposing their profiles into composite King and Sersic profiles, we find evidence for faint stellar envelopes at {mu}=~26mag/arcsec^2^, surrounding the UCDs up to an extension of 90pc in radius. We also show new evidence for faint asymmetric structures and tidal tail-like features surrounding several of these UCDs, a possible tracer of their origin and assembly history within their host galaxy halos. In particular, we present evidence for the first discovery of a significant tidal tail with an extension of ~350pc around UCD-FORS2. Finally, we studied the local overdensities in the spatial distribution of globular clusters within the halo of NGC1399 out to 110kpc to see if they are related to the positions of the UCDs. We found a local overabundance of globular clusters on a scale of <=1kpc around UCDs, when we compared it to the distribution of globulars from the host galaxy. This effect is strongest for the metal-poor blue GCs. We discuss how likely it is that these clustered globulars were originally associated with the UCD, either as globular cluster systems of a nucleated dwarf galaxy that was stripped down to its nucleus, or as a surviving member of a merged super star cluster complex.
The Astrophysics Group of UCL's Dept of Physics & Astronomy is one of the largest in the UK, comprising about 90 members of academic, research and support staff. Our research areas cover massive stars, star formation, interstellar and circumstellar processes, astrochemistry, cosmology, galaxy formation and evolution, extra-solar planets, atmospheric physics and instrumentation.
The UCL DaCHS server's TAP end point. The Table Access
Protocol (TAP) lets you execute queries against our database tables,
inspect various metadata, and upload your own data. It is thus the
VO's premier way to access public data holdings.
Tables exposed through this endpoint include: columns, groups, key_columns, keys, schemas, tables from the tap_schema schema, emptyobscore, obscore from the ivoa schema, epn_core from the mdisc schema.
We publish the Keck/HIRES and Keck/ESI spectra that we have obtained during the first 10 years of Keck observatory operations. Our full sample includes 42 HIRES spectra and 39 ESI spectra along 65 unique sight lines providing abundance measurements on about 85 DLA systems. The normalized data can be downloaded from the journal or from our supporting Web site. The database includes all of the sight lines that have been included in our papers on the chemical abundances, kinematics, and metallicities of the damped Ly{alpha} systems. This data has also been used to argue for variations in the fine-structure constant. We present new chemical abundance measurements for 10 damped Ly{alpha} systems and a summary table of high-resolution metallicity measurements (including values from the literature) for 153 damped Ly{alpha} systems at z>1.6. We caution, however, that this metallicity sample (and all previous ones) is biased to higher N_HI_ values than a random sample.
This paper presents new deep and wide narrow-band surveys undertaken with United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT), Subaru and the Very Large Telescope (VLT), a unique combined effort to select large, robust samples of H{alpha} star-forming galaxies at z = 0.40, 0.84, 1.47 and 2.23 (corresponding to look-back times of 4.2, 7.0, 9.2 and 10.6Gyr) in a uniform manner over ~2deg^2^ in the Cosmological Evolution Survey and Ultra Deep Survey fields. The deep multi-epoch H{alpha} surveys reach a matched 3{sigma} flux limit of ~3M_{sun}_/yr out to z=2.2 for the first time, while the wide area and the coverage over two independent fields allow us to greatly overcome cosmic variance and assemble by far the largest samples of H{alpha} emitters. Catalogues are presented for a total of 1742, 637, 515 and 807 H{alpha} emitters, robustly selected at z = 0.40, 0.84, 1.47 and 2.23, respectively, and used to determine the H{alpha} luminosity function and its evolution.
Photometry on the UVI system has been performed on the resolved stellar content of the blue compact dwarf galaxy UGC 6456 using Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. The resulting color-magnitude diagram (CMD) goes to about V=27.5 and reveals not only a young population of blue main-sequence stars and blue and red supergiants, but also an older evolved population of red giants and a fairly well represented asymptotic giant branch. The distance to the galaxy is estimated from the tip of the red giant branch to be 4.5Mpc, placing it about 1.5Mpc farther away than the major members of the M81 Group, with which it is usually associated. The youngest stars are generally associated with H ii regions shown on our Halpha image and are largely confined to the 745pc field of our PC images. A comparison of their distribution in the CMD with theoretical isochrones suggests ages from 4 to 10Myr. The population of older stars is found throughout all WFPC2 camera fields and seems to show an elliptical distribution with an aspect ratio of about 2.4 and an exponential falloff in surface density with distance from a center of symmetry that is not far from the centroid of the youngest stars. Theoretical modeling of the CMD at a metallicity of Z=0.001 suggests star formation in the age interval 1-2Gyr, a strong burst in the interval 600-800Myr, and a lower rate of star formation up to the present. The evidence is compatible with a scenario beginning with the formation of a population of low-metallicity stars, enriching a major residual of prestellar material that subsequently fueled an active episode of star formation. That burst of star formation must have been particularly spectacular and may be related to the activity we now see in the distant blue dwarf galaxies revealed in deep imaging.
We present a phase-resolved spectroscopic study of the secondary star in the cataclysmic variable (CV) U Gem. We use our data to measure the radial velocity semi-amplitude, systemic velocity and rotational velocity of the secondary star. Combining this with literature data allows us to determine masses and radii for both the secondary star and white dwarf, which are independent of any assumptions about their structure. We use these to compare their properties to those of field stars and find that both components follow field mass-radius relationships. The secondary star has the mass, radius, luminosity and photometric temperature of an M2 star, but a spectroscopic temperature of M4. The latter may well be due to a high metallicity. There is a troubling inconsistency between the radius of the white dwarf inferred from its gravitational redshift and inclination and that inferred from its temperature, flux and astrometric distance.
Cluster faint low surface brightness galaxies (fLSBs) are difficult to observe. Consequently, their origin, physical properties and number density are not well known. After a first search for fLSBs in the highly substructured Coma cluster, we present here a search for fLSBs in the nearly relaxed Abell 496 cluster. Abell 496 appears to be a much more relaxed cluster than Coma, but still embedded in a large scale filament of galaxies. Our aim is to compare the properties of fLSBs in these two very different clusters, to search for environmental effects.