Probing the Interstellar Medium Properties in a Morphologically Diverse Sample of Normal Galaxies
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Normal galaxies, radio galaxies, and Seyfert galaxies are considered. The large magellanic cloud and the great galaxy in Andromedia are highlighted. Quasars and BL lacertae objects are also discussed and a review of the spectral observations of all of these galaxies and celestial objects is presented.
Normal irregular galaxies seem to be unusual in having vigorous star formation yet lacking the many dark nebulae typical of spirals. The Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) observations of a large sample of irregulars are used to explore the dust contents of these galaxies. Compared to normal spirals, the irregulars generally have higher L sub IR/L sub B ratios, warmer f(100)/f(60) dust color temperatures, and lower globally-averaged dust/gas ratios. The relationship between the infrared data and various global optical properties of the galaxies is discussed.
Deep near-infrared imaging was obtained to study extragalactic populations, and a color-magnitude diagram was used to identify both normal galaxies with z = 0.3-1 and what appears to be a new distinct population. The latter has properties roughly similar to what would be expected for large galaxies at z greater than six undergoing a rapid luminous phase of star formation. It is suggested that these galaxies are good candidates for primeval galaxies. The normal galaxies identified are also important for studies of galaxy evolution, since they are found in the near-infrared, which is only weakly affected by evolution of the stellar populations.
The data related to this grant on the Ultraviolet Spectra of Normal Spiral Galaxies have been entirely reduced and analyzed. It is incorporated into templates of Spiral galaxies used in the calculation of K corrections towards the understanding of high redshift galaxies. The main paper was published in the Astrophysical Journal, August 1996, Volume 467, page 38. The data was also used in another publication, The Spectral Energy Distribution of Normal Starburst and Active Galaxies, June 1997, preprint series No. 1158. Copies of both have been attached.
The spatial distribution of emission-line galaxies (ELGs) relative to normal galaxies in several areas of the sky is discussed. Current evidence supports the notion that ELGs trace a low-density population in all the surveyed areas with the possible exception of the CfA 'Slice of the Universe' survey. Based on this and other survey data in the north galactic cap, it is suggested that the ELGs inside the Bootes void may actually define the edge of a totally empty volume within an underdense distribution of normal galaxies.
The distribution of nonthermal emissivity with height z above the galactic plane is examined. The main result is that recent observations of the distribution of brightness at intermediate latitudes in the galaxy and of the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 891 indicate that the emissivity extends to heights of several kpc perpendicular to the plane. The relationship between the nonthermal emissivity and the neutral gas is also studied. In several galaxies the angular distributions of neutral hydrogen and nonthermal emission are roughly coextensive and show similar features such as spiral structure. If radio galaxies and normal galaxies with strong nuclear radio sources are excluded, there appears to be a proportionality between their total HI content and their nonthermal radio luminosity.
Observations of the distribution of brightness at intermediate latitudes in the galaxy and of the edge-on spiral galaxy, NGC 891, indicate that the emissivity extends to heights of several kpc perpendicular to the plane. In several galaxies, the angular distributions of neutral hydrogen and nonthermal emission are roughly coextensive and show similar features such as spiral structure. If radio galaxies and normal galaxies with strong nuclear radio sources are excluded, there appears to be a proportionality between their total H(I) content and their nonthermal radio luminosity.
A model for the appearance of the all-sky low-energy X-ray background on a fine angular scale is presented which is based on primeval hot gas clouds associated with the formation of clusters of galaxies according to the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (1972) model. It is noted that the background could have both granular and diffuse components if it is due to such gas clouds. The observed appearance of the granular component is predicted along with the observable characteristics of collapsing protoclusters. The effects of distant X-ray-emitting QSOs, radio galaxies, and normal galaxies on the observations are considered, and these sources are shown not to interfere with the possibility of observing the protoclusters. It is concluded that if sufficient heating occurred in an intracluster medium within some clusters of galaxies at the protocluster epoch, the ensemble properties of protoclusters could be observed with an X-ray telescope, and the time at which protoclusters formed could perhaps be estimated.
The manifestations of dust in the Galaxy, in normal galaxies, active nuclei galaxies (ANGs), and in QSOs are discussed. Findings on the composition, abundance, size distribution, and global properties of the Galaxy's dust obtained with absorption and emission studies are reviewed. The properties of dust in other galaxies, the variation of those properties among galaxies, and the effect of the dust on the appearance of galaxies are considered, discussing the LMC, M51, and M82 as examples. Evidence for the existence of dust in the nuclei of ANGs and in QSOs is examined with regard to reddening, dust emission and absorption, and polarization. The question of the existence of intergalactic dust is briefly addressed.
The X-ray source MS 0129.2 - 2237 is positionally coincident with an interacting system of galaxies. This paper presents the results of a spectroscopic and photometric investigation of the system, which show that a Seyfert 1.5, a Seyfert 2 nucleus or H II region, or a starburst galaxy, a normal galaxy plus possibly another galaxy where star-forming activity is taking place are strongly interacting. The redshift of the system is z = 0.11. The maximum projected diameter of the envelope common to the four spectroscopically distinct objects is about 98 kpc (H0 = 50 km/s M/pc and q0 = 0.5). The isolated environment in which the system lies suggests that these results present evidence of the final stage of the life of a compact group of galaxies where members are merging into an elliptical galaxy.
The way in which the neutral atomic hydrogen and far-IR emission from galaxies relate to their environments is shown. It is found that isolated and interacting galaxies display a fairly narrow range of a temperature-adjusted 'H I/100-micron index', suggesting that atomic gas-to-dust ratios are relatively constant among most galaxies. Isolated normal galaxies are used to develop a fiducial standard for the H I/100-micron index, against which galaxies in other environments are compared. Galaxies undergoing tidal interactions prove to have the same value for the index once the proper temperature adjustment is applied according to their FIR color. Applied to clusters, the H I/100-micron index shows a clear discrimination between galaxies whose H I is 'stripped' or 'unstripped', implying that there is about 6 times less H I in stripped galaxies relative to the 100-micron-emitting dust. The stripped galaxies also appear to have a slightly lower mean dust temperature, which is surprising since the stripping process might be expected to remove preferentially cooler than average dust from the outer disk.
A grid of cooling flow models for the hot gas in normal elliptical galaxies is calculated, including the loss of gas due to inhomogeneous cooling. The loss process is modeled as a distributed sink for the gas with the rate of loss being proportional to the local cooling rate. The cooling flow models with gas loss have smaller sonic radii, smaller inflow rates in their central regions, lower densities, and higher temperatures than homogeneous models. The reduction in the amount of hot gas flowing into the center of the models brings the models into much better agreement with the observed X-ray surface brightness profiles of elliptical galaxies. However, there is a large dispersion in the observed X-ray luminosities of ellipticals, and this cannot be explained by variations in the efficiency of gas loss. The gas-loss models have X-ray surface brightness profiles which are much less centrally peaked than the no-gas-loss models.
The 13 cm flux densities of 96 non-Seyfert Markarian galaxies were measured at Arecibo Observatory. Far infrared flux densities have been published for 78 of these galaxies in the IRAS catalog. The radio, infrared, and optical fluxes of these galaxies and of a magnitude limited sample of normal galaxies were compared to clarify the nature of the radio emission in Markarian galaxies. It was found that Markarian galaxies of a given apparent magnitude and Hubble type generally have radio fluxes several times higher that the fluxes typical of normal galaxies of the same magnitude and type. Remarkably, the ratio of radio flux to far infrared flux is nearly the same for most of these starburst galaxies and for normal spiral disks. However, the compact and peculiar Markarian galaxies consistently have about 60% more radio flux per unit infrared flux than the other Markarian galaxies and the normal spirals. It is not clear whether this difference reflects a difference in the evolution of the starbursts in these galaxies or whether there is excess radio emission of nonstellar origin.
We present some results from our HST archival image study of 71 QSO host galaxies. The objects are selected to have z less than or equal to 0.46 and total absolute magnitude M(sub v) less than or equal to -23 in our adopted cosmology (H(sub 0) = 50 kilometers per second Mpc(sup-1), q(sub 0) = 0.5, lambda = 0)). The aim of this initial study is to investigate the composition of the sample with respect to host morphology and radio loudness, as well as derive the QSO host galaxy luminosity function. We have analyzed available WFPC2 images in R or I band (U in one case), using a uniform set of procedures. The host galaxies span a narrow range of luminosities and are exceptionally bright, much more so than normal galaxies, usually L greater than L*(sub v). The QSOs are almost equally divided among three subclasses: radio-loud QSOs with elliptical hosts, radio-quiet QSOs with elliptical hosts, and radio-quiet QSOs with spiral hosts. Radio-loud QSOs with spiral hosts are extremely rare. Using a weighting procedure, we derive the combined luminosity function of QSO host galaxies. We find that the luminosity function of QSO hosts differs in shape from that of normal galaxies but that they coincide at the highest luminosities. The ratio of the number of quasar hosts to the number of normal galaxies at a luminosity L*(sub v) is R = (Lv/11.48L*(sub v))(sup 2.46), where L*(sub v) corresponds to M*(sub v)= -22.35, and a QSO is defined to be an object with total nuclear plus host light M(sub v) less than or equal to -23. This ratio can be interpreted as the probability that a galaxy with luminosity L(sub V) will host a QSO at redshift z approximately equal to 0.26.
Some results of an Einstein Observatory survey of X-ray emitting spiral galaxies are reported. The sources were normally 10-100 times further away than M31. Luminosities of 10 to the 38th to 10 to the 40th erg/sec were calculated and could have been generated by Pop I and Pop II binary systems, supernova remnants and small nuclear sources. Highly positive correlations were found among properties such as the integrated X-ray, optical and radio emissions. The data will also be compared with similar data from star burst and elliptical galaxies.
We present ultraviolet spectra of 143 star-forming galaxies of different morphological types and activity classes including S0, Sa, Sb, Sc, Sd, irregular, starburst, blue compact, blue compact dwarf, Liner, and Seyfert 2 galaxies. These IUE spectra cover the wavelength range from 1200 to 3200 A and are taken in a large aperture (10 x 20 inch). The ultraviolet spectral energy distributions are shown for a subset of the galaxies, ordered by spectral index, and separated by type for normal galaxies, Liners, starburst galaxies, blue compact (BCG) and blue compact dwarf (BCDG) galaxies, and Seyfert 2 galaxies. The ultraviolet spectra of Liners are, for the most part, indistinguishable from the spectra of normal galaxies. Starburst galaxies have a large range of ultraviolet slope, from blue to red. The star-forming galaxies which are the bluest in the optical (BCG and BCDG), also have the 'bluest' average ultraviolet slope of beta = -1.75 +/- 0.63. Seyfert 2 galaxies are the only galaxies in the sample that consistently have detectable UV emission lines.