We present the detection of molecular gas using CO(1-0) line emission and follow up Halpha imaging observations of galaxies located in nearby voids. The CO(1-0) observations were done using the 45m telescope of the Nobeyama Radio Observatory (NRO) an
d the optical observations were done using the Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT). Although void galaxies lie in the most under dense parts of our universe, a significant fraction of them are gas rich, spiral galaxies that show signatures of ongoing star formation. Not much is known about their cold gas content or star formation properties. In this study we searched for molecular gas in five void galaxies using the NRO. The galaxies were selected based on their relatively higher IRAS fluxes or Halpha line luminosities. CO(1--0) emission was detected in four galaxies and the derived molecular gas masses lie between (1 - 8)E+9 Msun. The H$alpha$ imaging observations of three galaxies detected in CO emission indicates ongoing star formation and the derived star formation rates vary between from 0.2 - 1.0 Msun/yr, which is similar to that observed in local galaxies. Our study shows that although void galaxies reside in under dense regions, their disks may contain molecular gas and have star formation rates similar to galaxies in denser environments.
We present GMRT 1280 MHz radio continuum observations and follow-up optical studies of the disk and nuclear star formation in a sample of low luminosity bulgeless galaxies. The main aim is to understand bulge formation and overall disk evolution in t
hese late type galaxies. We detected radio continuum from five of the twelve galaxies in our sample; the emission is mainly associated with disk star formation. Only two of the detected galaxies had extended radio emission; the others had patchy disk emission. In the former two galaxies, NGC3445 and NGC4027, the radio continuum is associated with star formation triggered by tidal interactions with nearby companion galaxies. We did follow-up Halpha imaging and nuclear spectroscopy of both galaxies using the Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT). The Halpha emission is mainly associated with the strong spiral arms. The nuclear spectra indicate ongoing nuclear star formation in NGC3445 and NGC4027 which maybe associated with nuclear star clusters. No obvious signs of AGN activity were detected. Although nearly bulgeless, both galaxies appear to have central oval distortions in the R band images; these could represent pseudobulges that may later evolve into large bulges. We thus conclude that tidal interactions are an important means of bulge formation and disk evolution in bulgeless galaxies; without such triggers these galaxies appear to be low in star formation and overall disk evolution.
We present Chandra detections of x-ray emission from the AGN in two giant Low Surface Brightness (LSB) galaxies, UGC 2936 and UGC 1455. Their x-ray luminosities are 1.8times10^{42} ergs/s and 1.1times10^{40} ergs/s respectively. Of the two galaxies,
UGC 2936 is radio loud. Together with another LSB galaxy UGC 6614 (XMM archival data) both appear to lie above the X-ray-Radio fundamental plane and their AGN have black hole masses that are low compared to similar galaxies lying on the correlation. However, the bulges in these galaxies are well developed and we detect diffuse x-ray emission from four of the eight galaxies in our sample. Our results suggest that the bulges of giant LSB galaxies evolve independently of their halo dominated disks which are low in star formation and disk dynamics. The centers follow an evolutionary path similar to that of bulge dominated normal galaxies on the Hubble Sequence but the LSB disks remain unevolved. Thus the bulge and disk evolution are decoupled and so whatever star formation processes produced the bulges did not affect the disks.
