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Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of Brightest Cluster Galaxies
We used the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 toobtain I-band images of the centers of 81 brightest cluster galaxies(BCGs), drawn from a volume-limited sample of nearby BCGs. The imagesshow a rich variety of morphological features, including multiple ordouble nuclei, dust, stellar disks, point-source nuclei, and centralsurface brightness depressions. High-resolution surface brightnessprofiles could be inferred for 60 galaxies. Of those, 88% havewell-resolved cores. The relationship between core size and galaxyluminosity for BCGs is indistinguishable from that of Faber et al.(published in 1997, hereafter F97) for galaxies within the sameluminosity range. However, the core sizes of the most luminous BCGs fallbelow the extrapolation of the F97 relationshiprb~L1.15V. A shallower relationship,rb~L0.72V, fits both the BCGs and thecore galaxies presented in F97. Twelve percent of the BCG sample lacks awell-resolved core; all but one of these BCGs have ``power law''profiles. Some of these galaxies have higher luminosities than anypower-law galaxy identified by F97 and have physical upper limits onrb well below the values observed for core galaxies of thesame luminosity. These results support the idea that the centralstructure of early-type galaxies is bimodal in its physical propertiesbut also suggest that there exist high-luminosity galaxies withpower-law profiles (or unusually small cores). The BCGs in the lattercategory tend to fall at the low end of the BCG luminosity function andtend to have low values of the quantity α (the logarithmic slopeof the metric luminosity as a function of radius, at 10 kpc). Sincetheoretical calculations have shown that the luminosities andα-values of BCGs grow with time as a result of accretion, thissuggests a scenario in which elliptical galaxies evolve from power-lawprofiles to core profiles through accretion and merging. This isconsistent with theoretical scenarios that invoke the formation ofmassive black hole binaries during merger events. More generally, theprevalence of large cores in the great majority of BCGs, which arelikely to have experienced several generations of galaxy merging,underscores the role of a mechanism that creates and preserves cores insuch merging events.Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope,obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated bythe Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., underNASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are associated withproposal 8683.
| On the dependence of spectroscopic indices of early-type galaxies on age, metallicity and velocity dispersion
We investigate the Mg-σ and -σ relations in asample of 72 early-type galaxies drawn mostly from cluster and groupenvironments using a homogeneous data set which is well calibrated on tothe Lick/IDS system. The small intrinsic scatter in Mg at a givenσ gives upper limits on the spread in age and metallicity of 49and 32 per cent respectively, if the spread is attributed to onequantity only, and if the variations in age and metallicity areuncorrelated. The age/metallicity distribution as inferred from theHβ versus diagnostic diagram reinforces this conclusion,as we find mostly galaxies with large luminosity-weighted ages spanninga range in metallicity. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we show that thegalaxy distribution in the Hβ versus plane cannot bereproduced by a model in which galaxy age is the only parameter drivingthe index-σ relation. In our sample we do not find significantevidence for an anticorrelation of ages and metallicities which wouldkeep the index-σ relations tight while hiding a large spread inage and metallicity. As a result of correlated errors in theage-metallicity plane, a mild age-metallicity anticorrelation cannot becompletely ruled out by the current data. Correcting the line-strengthindices for non-solar abundance ratios, following the recent paper byTrager et al., leads to higher mean metallicity and slightly younger ageestimates while preserving the metallicity sequence. The [Mg/Fe] ratiois mildly correlated with the central velocity dispersion, and rangesfrom [Mg/Fe]=0.05 to 0.3 for galaxies withσ>100kms-1. Under the assumption that there is noage gradient along the index-σ relations, theabundance-ratio-corrected Mg-σ, Fe-σ and Hβ-σrelations give consistent estimates ofΔ[M/H]/Δlogσ~=0.9+/-0.1. The slope of theHβ-σ relation limits a potential age trend as a function ofσ to 2-3Gyr along the sequence.
| The I-Band Tully-Fisher Relation for SC Galaxies: Optical Imaging Data
Properties derived from the analysis of photometric I-band imagingobservations are presented for 1727 inclined spiral galaxies, mostly oftypes Sbc and Sc. The reduction, parameter extraction, and errorestimation procedures are discussed in detail. The asymptotic behaviorof the magnitude curve of growth and the radial variation in ellipticityand position angle are used in combination with the linearity of thesurface brightness falloff to fit the disk portion of the profile. TotalI-band magnitudes are calculated by extrapolating the detected surfacebrightness profile to a radius of eight disk scale lengths. Errors inthe magnitudes, typically ~0.04 mag, are dominated by uncertainties inthe sky subtraction and disk-fitting procedures. Comparison is made withthe similar imaging database of Mathewson, Ford, & Buchhorn, both aspresented originally by those authors and after reanalyzing theirdigital reduction files using identical disk-fitting procedures. Directcomparison is made of profile details for 292 galaxies observed incommon. Although some differences occur, good agreement is found,proving that the two data sets can be used in combination with onlyminor accommodation of those differences. The compilation of opticalproperties presented here is optimized for use in applications of theTully-Fisher relation as a secondary distance indicator in studies ofthe local peculiar velocity field.
| Globular Clusters in 19 Northern Abell Clusters.
We use the method developed by Blakeslee & Tonry (1995) to study theglobular cluster (GC) populations of 21 giant elliptical galaxies in 19Abell clusters. This method, applied here primarily in the R band, isbased on the surface brightness fluctuations technique of extragalacticdistance measurement. The sample galaxies range in redshift from 5000 to10,000 \kms, and were selected primarily from the Lauer & Postman(1994) survey of brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs). We find a tightcorrelation between the GC specific frequency S_N of the central brightgalaxy in the cluster and the cluster velocity dispersion. S_N alsocorrelates well with the cluster X-ray temperature and with the numberof bright neighboring galaxies, less well with the galaxy profile, andonly marginally with galaxy luminosity and overall cluster richness. Itdoes not correlate with cluster morphology class. Thus, unlike galaxyluminosity, S_N is determined by the cluster mass, or density. Toaccount for this situation, we propose that the GCs formed early and inproportion to the available mass, while the luminosity growth of thegalaxy was later halted, yielding the observed correlations of \sn\ withdensity. We introduce a quantity called eta_ {GC}, the numberof GCs per unit local cluster mass. For a simple cluster mass model,eta_ {GC} is found to be constant, indicating a uniform GCproduction rate per unit available mass. A measurement of the Gaussianwidth sigma of the GC luminosity function (GCLF) is one of thebyproducts of our analysis. In the cosmic microwave background frame,the mean width for this sample is < sigma >{=}1.43 mag, virtuallyidentical to the HST value for M87, the galaxy used to calibrate themean of the GCLF in this analysis.
| Structure and kinematics of galaxy clusters. I. The redshift catalogue.
An extensive redshift survey has been conducted on a sample of 15 nearby(0.01<~z<~0.05) clusters of galaxies. A total number of 860redshifts were determined by fitting of emission-lines and/orcross-correlation techniques. Of this sample, 735 galaxies are within0.2-0.8Mpc (H_0_=50km/s/Mpc) of the center of clusters. Approximatemorphological types are available for most of the galaxies. A comparisonof the present redshifts with published data allows an extensive erroranalysis. The agreement is excellent with the most modern data, showinga zero point error of 5km/s and an overall consistency of themeasurements and their uncertainties. We estimate our redshifts to havemean random errors around 30km/s. A population analysis of the clusterswill be given in a forthcoming paper.
| Brightest cluster galaxies as standard candles
We investigate the use of brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) as standardcandles for measuring galaxy peculiar velocities on large scales. Wehave obtained precise large-format CCD surface photometry and redshiftsfor an all-sky, volume-limited (z less than or = 0.05) sample of 199BCG. We reinvestigate the Hoessel (1980) relationship between the metricluminosity, Lm, within the central 10 kpc/h of the BCGs andthe logarithmic slope of the surface brightness profile, alpha. TheLm-alpha relationship reduces the cosmic scatter inLm from 0.327 mag to 0.244 mag, yielding a typical distanceaccuracy of 17% per BCG. Residuals about the Lm-alpharelationship are independent of BCG luminosity, BCG B - Rccolor, BCG location within the host cluster, and richness of the hostcluster. The metric luminosity is independent of cluster richness evenbefore correcting for its dependence on alpha, which provides furtherevidence for the unique nature of the BCG luminosity function. Indeed,the BCG luminosity function, both before and after application of thealpha-correction, is consistent with a single Gaussian distribution.Half the BCGs in the sample show some evidence of small color gradientsas a function of radius within their central 50 kpc/h regions but withalmost equal numbers becoming redder as becoming bluer. However, withthe central 10 kpc/h the colors are remarkably constant -- the mean B -Rc color is 1.51 with a dispersion of only 0.06 mag. Thenarrow photometric and color distributions of the BCGs, the lack of'second-parameter' effects, as well as the unique rich clusterenvironment of BCGs, argue that BCGs are the most homogeneous distanceindicators presently available for large-scale structure research.
| Implications of the correlation between radio and far-infrared emission for spiral galaxies
A theory is proposed for the correlation between radio continuum andthermal FIR radiation for normal spiral galaxies. Results from sampledata are used to demonstrate the correlation. In addition, other globalparameters of galaxies are studied, including optical luminosity, COluminosity, and radio spectral index. The results suggest that there isa turning point above which most of the electrons will be trapped in thegalaxies. At this point the slope of the correlation will become unity.
| Linear clusters of galaxies - A999 and A1016
Redshifts have been measured for galaxies in two of the 'linear'clusters of the sample of Adams, Strom, and Strom (1980), including 44redshifts in A999 and 40 in A1016. From the data, it is concluded thatthe galaxies in A999 are probably drawn from a spherically symmetricdistribution, while those in A1016 probably are not. Both A999 and A1016have mass-to-light ratios lower than typical of other clusters. Theeffect of anisotropy on the determination of cluster masses from thevirial theorem is examined, and it is found that if the shortest axes ofthese clusters are close to the line of sight, the mass-to-light ratiomay be underestimated by about 50 percent. No significant evidence isfound for alignments of individual cluster members with the cluster axisin the convincing linear cluster A1016. There is similarly no evidenceof segregation by luminosity morphological type in A1016.
| Linear clusters of galaxies
Seven linear clusters of galaxies from the catalog of Rood and Sastryhave been studied primarily to determine whether the principal axes ofthe member galaxies exhibit any tendency toward alignment. The majoraxes of galaxies in two of the clusters (Abell 999 and Abell 2197) showa distinct tendency to lie along the cluster major axes. Examination ofall the galaxies in our seven-cluster sample reveals that the major axesof these cluster members tend to lie either along or perpendicular tothe cluster major axis and avoid intermediate position angles. For thissample, there appears to be no correlation between E-galaxy flatteningand cluster shape, a result in contradiction to the recent study byStrom and Strom of ellipticals located in nine clusters of greaterrichness. Significant evidence of mass segregation is found in twoclusters (Abell 179 and Abell 194).
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