No Arabic abstract
We present the stellar and gaseous kinematics of an Sb galaxy, NGC 3223, with the aim of determining the vertical and radial stellar velocity dispersion as a function of radius, which can help to constrain disk heating theories. Together with the observed NIR photometry, the vertical velocity dispersion is also used to determine the stellar mass-to-light (M/L) ratio, typically one of the largest uncertainties when deriving the dark matter distribution from the observed rotation curve. We find a vertical-to-radial velocity dispersion ratio of sigma_z/sigma_R=1.21+-0.14, significantly higher than expectations from known correlations, and a weakly-constrained Ks-band stellar M/L ratio in the range 0.5-1.7, at the high end of (but consistent with) the predictions of stellar population synthesis models. Such a weak constraint on the stellar M/L ratio, however, does not allow us to securely determine the dark matter density distribution. To achieve this, either a statistical approach or additional data (e.g. integral-field unit) are needed.
New deep VLA D array HI observations of the highly inclined nearby spiral galaxy NGC 2683 are presented. Archival C array data were processed and added to the new observations. To investigate the 3D structure of the atomic gas disk, we made different 3D models for which we produced model HI data cubes. The main ingredients of our best-fit model are (i) a thin disk inclined by 80 degrees; (ii) a crude approximation of a spiral and/or bar structure by an elliptical surface density distribution of the gas disk; (iii) a slight warp in inclination; (iv) an exponential flare; and (v) a low surface-density gas ring. The slope of NGC 2683s flare is comparable, but somewhat steeper than those of other spiral galaxies. NGC 2683s maximum height of the flare is also comparable to those of other galaxies. On the other hand, a saturation of the flare is only observed in NGC 2683. Based on the comparison between the high resolution model and observations, we exclude the existence of an extended atomic gas halo around the optical and thin gas disk. Under the assumption of vertical hydrostatic equilibrium we derive the vertical velocity dispersion of the gas. The high turbulent velocity dispersion in the flare can be explained by energy injection by (i) supernovae, (ii) magneto-rotational instabilities, (iii) ISM stirring by dark matter substructure, or (iv) external gas accretion. The existence of the complex large-scale warping and asymmetries favors external gas accretion as one of the major energy sources that drives turbulence in the outer gas disk. We propose a scenario where this external accretion leads to turbulent adiabatic compression that enhances the turbulent velocity dispersion and might quench star formation in the outer gas disk of NGC 2683.
Galaxy flybys are as common as mergers in low redshift universe and are important for galaxy evolution as they involve the exchange of significant amounts of mass and energy. In this study we investigate the effect of minor flybys on the bulges, disks, and spiral arms of Milky Way mass galaxies for two types of bulges - classical bulges and boxy/peanut pseudobulges. Our N-body simulations comprise of two disk galaxies of mass ratios 10:1 and 5:1, where the disks of the galaxies lie in their orbital plane and the pericenter distance is varied. We performed photometric and kinematic bulge-disk decomposition at regular time steps and traced the evolution of the disk size, spiral structure, bulge sersic index, bulge mass, and bulge angular momentum. Our results show that the main effect on the disks is disk thickening, which is seen as the increase in the ratio of disk scale height to scale radius. The strength of the spiral structure A2/A0 shows small oscillations about the mean time-varying amplitude in the pseudobulge host galaxies. The flyby has no significant effect on non-rotating classical bulge, which shows that these bulges are extremely stable in galaxy interactions. However, the pseudobulges become dynamically hotter in flybys indicating that flybys may play an important role in accelerating the rate of secular evolution in disk galaxies. This effect on pseudobulges is a result of their rotating nature as part of the bar. Also, flybys do not affect the time and strength of bar buckling.
We present our results of the spectroscopic study of the lenticular galaxy NGC 4143 - an outskirt member of the Ursa Major cluster. Using the observations at the 6-m SAO RAS telescope with the SCORPIO-2 spectrograph and also the archive data of panoramic spectroscopy with the SAURON IFU at the WHT, we have detected an extended inclined gaseous disk which is traced up to a distance of about 3.5 kpc from the center, with a spin approximately opposite to the spin of the stellar disk. The galaxy images in the H-alpha and [NII]6583 emission lines obtained at the 2.5-m CMO SAI MSU telescope with the MaNGaL instrument have shown that the emission lines are excited by a shock wave. A spiral structure that is absent in the stellar disk of the galaxy is clearly seen in the brightness distribution of ionized-gas lines (H-alpha and [NII] from the MaNGaL data and [OIII] from the SAURON data). A complex analysis of both the Lick index distribution along the radius and of the integrated colors, including the ultraviolet measurements with the GALEX space telescope and the near-infrared measurements with the WISE space telescope, has shown that there has been no star formation in the galaxy, perhaps, for the last 10 Gyr. Thus, the recent external-gas accretion detected in NGC 4143 from its kinematics, was not accompanied by star formation, probably, due to an inclined direction of the gas inflow onto the disk.
We use deep Hubble Space Telescope imaging in the outskirts of the nearby spiral M101 to study stellar populations in the galaxys outer disk and halo. Our ACS field lies 17.6 arcmin (36 kpc) from the center of M101 and targets the blue NE Plume of M101s outer disk, while the parallel WFC3 field lies at a distance of 23.3 arcmin (47 kpc) to sample the galaxys stellar halo. The WFC3 halo field shows a well-defined red giant branch characterized by low metallicity ([M/H]=-1.7 $pm$ 0.2), with no evidence of young stellar populations. In contrast, the ACS disk field shows multiple stellar populations, including a young main sequence, blue and red helium burning stars, and old RGB and AGB populations. The mean metallicity of these disk stars is quite low: [M/H]=-1.3 $pm$ 0.2 for the RGB population, and -1.15 $pm$ 0.2 for the younger helium burning sequences. Of particular interest is a bunching of stars along the BHeB sequence, indicative of an evolving cohort of massive young stars. We show that the young stellar populations in this field are well-described by a decaying burst of star formation that peaked ~ 300-400 Myr ago, along with a more extended star formation history to produce the older RGB and AGB populations. These results confirm and extend the results from our previous deep surface photometry of M101s outer disk, providing an important cross-check on stellar population studies using resolved stellar populations versus integrated light photometry. We discuss our results in the context of halo formation models and the interaction history of M101 and its companions.
NGC 300 is a low-mass disk galaxy in the Sculptor group. In the literature, it has been identified as a pure exponential disk galaxy, as its luminosity profile could be well fitted with a single exponential law over many disk scale lengths (Type I). We investigate the stellar luminosity distribution of NGC 300 using $Hubble$ $Space$ $Telescope$ (HST) archive data, reaching farther and deeper than any other previous studies. Color magnitude diagrams show a significant population of old red giant branch (RGB) stars in all fields out to $Rsim19$ kpc ($32$), as well as younger populations in the inner regions. We construct the density profiles of the young, intermediate-aged, and old stellar populations. We find two clear breaks in the density profiles of the old RGB and intermediate-aged stars: one down-bending (Type II) at $Rsim5.9$ kpc, and another up-bending (Type III) at $Rsim8.3$ kpc. Moreover, the old RGB stars exhibit a negative radial color gradient with an up-bending at $Rsim8$~kpc, beyond which the stellar populations are uniformly old ($>$7~Gyr) and metal-poor ($rm[Fe/H] = -1.6^{+0.2}_{-0.4}$ dex). The outer stellar component at $Rgtrapprox8$ kpc is, therefore, well separated from the inner disk in terms of the stellar density and stellar populations. While our results cast doubt on the currently established wisdom that NGC,300 is a pure exponential disk galaxy, a more detailed survey should be carried out to identify the outskirts as either a disk or a stellar halo.