No Arabic abstract
New surveys such as ESAs Euclid mission and NASAs Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope are planned to map with unprecedented precision the large-scale structure of the Universe by measuring the 3D positions of tens of millions of galaxies. It is necessary to develop theoretically modelled galaxy catalogues to estimate the expected performance and to optimise the analysis strategy of these surveys. We populate two pairs of 1 (Gpc/h)$^3$ volume dark-matter-only simulations from the UNIT project with galaxies using the SAGE semi-analytic model of galaxy formation, coupled to the photoionisation model GET_EMLINES to estimate their Halpha emission. These catalogues represent a unique suite that includes galaxy formation physics and - thanks to the fixed-pair technique used - an effective volume of ~ (5 Gpc/h)$^3$, which is several times larger than the Euclid survey. We study the abundance and clustering of those model star-forming Halpha emission-line galaxies (ELGs). For scales greater than ~5 Mpc/h, we find for the ELGs a scale-independent bias with values in the range b $in$ [1,4.5], increasing with redshift over the interval z $in$ [0.5,2]. Model galaxy properties, including their emission-line fluxes are publicly available.
We present the public release of the MultiDark-Galaxies: three distinct galaxy catalogues derived from one of the Planck cosmology MultiDark simulations (i.e. MDPL2, with a volume of (1 Gpc/$h$)$^{3}$ and mass resolution of $1.5 times 10^{9} M_{odot}/h$) by applying the semi-analytic models GALACTICUS, SAG, and SAGE to it. We compare the three models and their conformity with observational data for a selection of fundamental properties of galaxies like stellar mass function, star formation rate, cold gas fractions, and metallicities - noting that they sometimes perform differently reflecting model designs and calibrations. We have further selected galaxy subsamples of the catalogues by number densities in stellar mass, cold gas mass, and star formation rate in order to study the clustering statistics of galaxies. We show that despite different treatment of orphan galaxies, i.e. galaxies that lost their dark-matter host halo due to the finite mass resolution of the N-body simulation or tidal stripping, the clustering signal is comparable, and reproduces the observations in all three models - in particular when selecting samples based upon stellar mass. Our catalogues provide a powerful tool to study galaxy formation within a volume comparable to those probed by on-going and future photometric and redshift surveys. All model data consisting of a range of galaxy properties - including broad-band SDSS magnitudes - are publicly available.
We compare the physical and morphological properties of z ~ 2 Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies (LAEs) identified in the HETDEX Pilot Survey and narrow band studies with those of z ~ 2 optical emission line galaxies (oELGs) identified via HST WFC3 infrared grism spectroscopy. Both sets of galaxies extend over the same range in stellar mass (7.5 < logM < 10.5), size (0.5 < R < 3.0 kpc), and star-formation rate (~1 < SFR < 100). Remarkably, a comparison of the most commonly used physical and morphological parameters -- stellar mass, half-light radius, UV slope, star formation rate, ellipticity, nearest neighbor distance, star formation surface density, specific star formation rate, [O III] luminosity, and [O III] equivalent width -- reveals no statistically significant differences between the populations. This suggests that the processes and conditions which regulate the escape of Ly-alpha from a z ~ 2 star-forming galaxy do not depend on these quantities. In particular, the lack of dependence on the UV slope suggests that Ly-alpha emission is not being significantly modulated by diffuse dust in the interstellar medium. We develop a simple model of Ly-alpha emission that connects LAEs to all high-redshift star forming galaxies where the escape of Ly-alpha depends on the sightline through the galaxy. Using this model, we find that mean solid angle for Ly-alpha escape is 2.4+/-0.8 steradians; this value is consistent with those calculated from other studies.
[Abridged] To effectively investigate galaxy formation and evolution, it is of paramount importance to exploit homogeneous data for large samples of galaxies in different environments. The WINGS (WIde-field Nearby Galaxy-cluster Survey) project aim is to evaluate physical properties of galaxies in a complete sample of low redshift clusters to be used as reference sample for evolutionary studies. The WINGS survey is still ongoing and the original dataset will soon be enlarged with new observations. This paper presents the entire collection of WINGS measurements obtained so far. We decided to make use of the Virtual Observatory (VO) tools to share the WINGS database (that will be regularly updated) with the community. In the database each object has one unique identification (WINGSID). Each subset of estimated properties is accessible using a simple cone search (including wide-field images). We provide the scientific community the entire set of wide-field images. Furthermore, the published database contains photometry of 759,024 objects and surface brightness analysis for 42,275 and 41,463 galaxies in the V and B band, respectively. The completeness depends on the image quality, and on the cluster redshift, reaching on average 90% at V<= 21.7. Near infrared photometric catalogs for 26 (in K) and 19 (in J) clusters are part of the database and the number of sources is 962,344 in K and 628,813 in J. Here again the completeness depends on the data quality, but it is on average higher than 90% for J<=20.5 and K<=19.4. The IR subsample with a Sersic fit comprises 71,687 objects. A morphological classification is available for 39,923 galaxies. We publish spectroscopic data, including 6,132 redshifts, 5,299 star formation histories and 4,381 equivalent widths. Finally, a calculation of local density is presented and implemented in the VO catalogs for 66,164 galaxies.
We study the kinematical properties of galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization via the [CII] 158$mu$m line emission. The line profile provides information on the kinematics as well as structural properties such as the presence of a disk and satellites. To understand how these properties are encoded in the line profile, first we develop analytical models from which we identify disk inclination and gas turbulent motions as the key parameters affecting the line profile. To gain further insights, we use Althaea, a highly-resolved ($30, rm pc$) simulated prototypical Lyman Break Galaxy, in the redshift range $z = 6-7$, when the galaxy is in a very active assembling phase. Based on morphology, we select three main dynamical stages: I) Merger , II) Spiral Disk, and III) Disturbed Disk. We identify spectral signatures of merger events, spiral arms, and extra-planar flows in I), II), and III), respectively. We derive a generalised dynamical mass vs. [CII]-line FWHM relation. If precise information on the galaxy inclination is (not) available, the returned mass estimate is accurate within a factor $2$ ($4$). A Tully-Fisher relation is found for the observed high-$z$ galaxies, i.e. $L_{rm[CII]}propto (FWHM)^{1.80pm 0.35}$ for which we provide a simple, physically-based interpretation. Finally, we perform mock ALMA simulations to check the detectability of [CII]. When seen face-on, Althaea is always detected at $> 5sigma$; in the edge-on case it remains undetected because the larger intrinsic FWHM pushes the line peak flux below detection limit. This suggests that some of the reported non-detections might be due to inclination effects.
(Abridged) The Spitzer Survey for Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G) and its more recently approved extension will lead to a set of 3.6 and 4.5 micron images for 2829 galaxies, which can be used to study many different aspects of the structure and evolution of local galaxies. We collected and re-processed optical images in five bands from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey for 1657 galaxies, which are publicly released with the publication of this paper. We observed, in only the g-band, an additional 111 S4G galaxies in the northern hemisphere with the 2.5 m Liverpool Telescope, so that optical imaging is released for 1768 galaxies, or for 62% of the S4G sample. We visually checked all images. We noted interactions and close companions in our optical data set and in the S4G sample, confirming them by determining the galaxies radial velocities and magnitudes in the NASA-IPAC Extragalactic Database. We find that 17% of the S4G galaxies (21% of those brighter than 13.5 mag) have a close companion (within a radius of five times the diameter of the sample galaxy, a recession velocity within 200km/s and not more than 3 mag fainter) and that around 5% of the bright part of the S4G sample show significant morphological evidence of an ongoing interaction. This confirms and further supports previous estimates of these fractions. The over 8000 science images described in this paper, the re-processed Sloan Digital Sky Survey ones, the new Liverpool Telescope images, the set of 29 false-colour pictures, and the catalogue of companion and interacting galaxies, are all publicly released for general use for scientific, illustrative, or public outreach purposes.