Engineering topics

Landsman, Wayne B.

Publications and source records attributed to Landsman, Wayne B..

21 records · Page 2

NASA NTRS1992

Ultraviolet imaging of old population in nearby galaxies

We analyze UV imagery of two Sb bulges and two E galaxies obtained with the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope during the Astro-1 mission. The UV brightness of these systems is not produced by recent massive star formation. Instead it must originate in relatively low-luminosity objects, probably low-mass, post-giant-branch stars. We find extended, large-amplitude UV color gradients, which are probably related to abundance gradients within the galaxies. M32 has a color gradient opposite to the other three objects, possibly because of an intermediate-age population.

O'Connell, Robert W.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Implications of Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope observations for star formation histories in NGC 1275

We discuss UV imagery of NGC 1275 obtained using the Goddard Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope. We are able to study the UV morphology down to mu 249 of about 25 mag/sq arcsec. There are significant nonaxisymmetric structures in the UV continuum associated with the low-velocity filament system. Continuum from the high-velocity system may also be present. The large aperture UV colors indicate that although the mass function extends to about 5 solar masses, more massive objects are not present. This implies either a cessation of star formation during the last 50-100 Myr or a truncated initial mass function.

Smith, Eric P.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Simulated optical images of galaxies at z about 1 using ultraviolet images of nearby galaxies

Ultraviolet sounding rocket images of several nearby galaxies are used to simulate the appearance in optical bandpasses of similar systems at redshifts z = 0.5-2.67, as observed by the WFPC on HST and by ground-based instruments. Since the morphology of galaxies is a strong function of the wavelength, the appearance of galaxies at large redshifts is subjected to a large k-correction effect. The strong dependence of monochromatic surface brightness on redshift also implies that observed morphology of distant systems will be crucially dependent on the limiting surface brightness set by the sky background. Although the angle subtended by sources depends only weakly on z, the fraction of a galaxy whose surface brightness is above the detection threshold varies strongly with z. Morphological distinctions of spiral from elliptical, spiral from irregular, and barred from unbarred types become more difficult, as does accurate evaluation of interactions or of the local environment.

Bohlin, Ralph C.↗