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 Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources in Nearby Galaxies from ROSAT High Resolution Imager Observations I. Data AnalysisX-ray observations have revealed in other galaxies a class ofextranuclear X-ray point sources with X-ray luminosities of1039-1041 ergs s-1, exceeding theEddington luminosity for stellar mass X-ray binaries. Theseultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) may be powered by intermediate-massblack holes of a few thousand Msolar or stellar mass blackholes with special radiation processes. In this paper, we present asurvey of ULXs in 313 nearby galaxies withD25>1' within 40 Mpc with 467 ROSAT HighResolution Imager (HRI) archival observations. The HRI observations arereduced with uniform procedures, refined by simulations that help definethe point source detection algorithm employed in this survey. A sampleof 562 extragalactic X-ray point sources withLX=1038-1043 ergs s-1 isextracted from 173 survey galaxies, including 106 ULX candidates withinthe D25 isophotes of 63 galaxies and 110 ULX candidatesbetween 1D25 and 2D25 of 64 galaxies, from which aclean sample of 109 ULXs is constructed to minimize the contaminationfrom foreground or background objects. The strong connection betweenULXs and star formation is confirmed based on the striking preference ofULXs to occur in late-type galaxies, especially in star-forming regionssuch as spiral arms. ULXs are variable on timescales over days to yearsand exhibit a variety of long term variability patterns. Theidentifications of ULXs in the clean sample show some ULXs identified assupernovae (remnants), H II regions/nebulae, or young massive stars instar-forming regions, and a few other ULXs identified as old globularclusters. In a subsequent paper, the statistic properties of the surveywill be studied to calculate the occurrence frequencies and luminosityfunctions for ULXs in different types of galaxies to shed light on thenature of these enigmatic sources. Gas and Stars in an H I-Selected Galaxy SampleWe present the results of a J-band study of the H I-selected AreciboDual-Beam Survey and Arecibo Slice Survey galaxy samples using TwoMicron All Sky Survey data. We find that these galaxies span a widerange of stellar and gas properties. However, despite the diversitywithin the samples, we find a very tight correlation between luminosityand size in the J band, similar to that found in a previous paper byRosenberg & Schneider between the H I mass and size. We also findthat the correlation between the baryonic mass and the J-band diameteris even tighter than that between the baryonic mass and the rotationalvelocity. Completing H I observations of galaxies in the Virgo clusterHigh sensitivity (rms noise  0.5 mJy) 21-cm H I line observationswere made of 33 galaxies in the Virgo cluster, using the refurbishedArecibo telescope, which resulted in the detection of 12 objects. Thesedata, combined with the measurements available from the literature,provide the first set of H I data that is complete for all 355 late-type(Sa-Im-BCD) galaxies in the Virgo cluster with mp ≤ 18.0mag. The Virgo cluster H I mass function (HIMF) that was derived forthis optically selected galaxy sample is in agreement with the HIMFderived for the Virgo cluster from the blind HIJASS H I survey and isinconsistent with the Field HIMF. This indicates that both in this richcluster and in the general field, neutral hydrogen is primarilyassociated with late-type galaxies, with marginal contributions fromearly-type galaxies and isolated H I clouds. The inconsistency betweenthe cluster and the field HIMF derives primarily from the difference inthe optical luminosity function of late-type galaxies in the twoenvironments, combined with the HI deficiency that is known to occur ingalaxies in rich clusters.Tables \ref{t1, \ref{sample_dat} and Appendix A are only available inelectronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org Dwarf and Normal Spiral Galaxies: are they Self-Similar?The investigation presented here was focused on clarifying the existenceof dwarf spiral galaxies as a separate group from classical spirals.First, a list of spiral galaxies with small sizes was obtained.Information on colors, luminosities, morphologies and chemical contentwas searched for in the literature for these galaxies. Using thisinformation, it can be concluded that dwarf spirals are not likely to bethe tail of the distribution of classical galaxies. On the contrary,significant differences in some of the most important properties ofspiral galaxies, such as the metallicity gradient and the bar frecuency,were found. In any case, further and more accurate observations areneeded for a definitive answer. Star Formation Properties of a Large Sample of Irregular GalaxiesWe present the results of Hα imaging of a large sample ofirregular galaxies. Our sample includes 94 galaxies with morphologicalclassifications of Im, 26 blue compact dwarfs (BCDs), and 20 Sm systems.The sample spans a large range in galactic parameters, includingintegrated absolute magnitude (MV of -9 to -19), averagesurface brightness (20-27 mag arcsec-2), current starformation activity (0-1.3 Msolar yr-1kpc-2), and relative gas content(0.02-5Msolar/LB). The Hα images were usedto measure the integrated star formation rates, determine the extents ofstar formation in the disks, and compare azimuthally averaged radialprofiles of current star formation to older starlight. The integratedstar formation rates of Im galaxies normalized to the physical size ofthe galaxy span a range of a factor of 104 with 10% Imgalaxies and one Sm system having no measurable star formation at thepresent time. The BCDs fall, on average, at the high star formation rateend of the range. We find no correlation between star formation activityand proximity to other cataloged galaxies. Two galaxies located in voidsare similar in properties to the Sm group in our sample. The H IIregions in these galaxies are most often found within the Holmbergradius RH, although in a few systems H II regions are tracedas far as 1.7RH. Similarly, most of the star formation isfound within three disk scale lengths RD, but in somegalaxies H II regions are traced as far as 6RD. A comparisonof Hα surface photometry with V-band surface photometry shows thatthe two approximately follow each other with radius in Sm galaxies, butin most BCDs there is an excess of Hα emission in the centers thatdrops with radius. In approximately half of the Im galaxies Hα andV correspond well, and in the rest there are small to large differencesin the relative rate of falloff with radius. The cases with stronggradients in the LHα/LV ratios and with highcentral star formation rate densities, which include most of the BCDs,require a significant fraction of their gas to migrate to the center inthe last gigayear. We discuss possible torques that could have causedthis without leaving an obvious signature, including dark matter barsand past interactions or mergers with small galaxies or H I clouds.There is now a substantial amount of evidence for these processes amongmany surveys of BCDs. We note that such gas migration will also increasethe local pressure and possibly enhance the formation of massive denseclusters but conclude that the star formation process itself does notappear to differ much among BCD, Im, and Sm types. In particular, thereis evidence in the distribution function for Hα surface brightnessthat the turbulent Mach numbers are all about the same in these systems.This follows from the Hα distribution functions corrected forexponential disk gradients, which are log-normal with a nearly constantdispersion. Thus, the influence of shock-triggered star formation isapparently no greater in BCDs than in Im and Sm types. A Catalog of Neighboring GalaxiesWe present an all-sky catalog of 451 nearby galaxies, each having anindividual distance estimate D<~10 Mpc or a radial velocityVLG<550 km s-1. The catalog contains data onbasic optical and H I properties of the galaxies, in particular, theirdiameters, absolute magnitudes, morphological types, circumnuclearregion types, optical and H I surface brightnesses, rotationalvelocities, and indicative mass-to-luminosity and H I mass-to-luminosityratios, as well as a so-called tidal index, which quantifies the galaxyenvironment. We expect the catalog completeness to be roughly 70%-80%within 8 Mpc. About 85% of the Local Volume population are dwarf (dIr,dIm, and dSph) galaxies with MB>-17.0, which contributeabout 4% to the local luminosity density, and roughly 10%-15% to thelocal H I mass density. The H I mass-to-luminosity and the H Imass-to-total (indicative) mass ratios increase systematically fromgiant galaxies toward dwarfs, reaching maximum values about 5 in solarunits for the most tiny objects. For the Local Volume disklike galaxies,their H I masses and angular momentum follow Zasov's linear relation,expected for rotating gaseous disks being near the threshold ofgravitational instability, favorable for active star formation. We foundthat the mean local luminosity density exceeds 1.7-2.0 times the globaldensity, in spite of the presence of the Tully void and the absence ofrich clusters in the Local Volume. The mean local H I density is 1.4times its global'' value derived from the H I Parkes Sky Survey.However, the mean local baryon densityΩb(<8Mpc)=2.3% consists of only a half of the globalbaryon density, Ωb=(4.7+/-0.6)% (Spergel et al.,published in 2003). The mean-square pairwise difference of radialvelocities is about 100 km s-1 for spatial separations within1 Mpc, increasing to ~300 km s-1 on a scale of ~3 Mpc. alsoWe calculated the integral area of the sky occupied by the neighboringgalaxies. Assuming the H I size of spiral and irregular galaxies to be2.5 times their standard optical diameter and ignoring any evolutioneffect, we obtain the expected number of the line-of-sight intersectionswith the H I galaxy images to be dn/dz~0.4, which does not contradictthe observed number of absorptions in QSO spectra. The origin of H I-deficiency in galaxies on the outskirts of the Virgo cluster. II. Companions and uncertainties in distances and deficienciesThe origin of the deficiency in neutral hydrogen of 13 spiral galaxieslying in the outskirts of the Virgo cluster is reassessed. If thesegalaxies have passed through the core of the cluster, their interstellargas should have been lost through ram pressure stripping by the hotX-ray emitting gas of the cluster. We analyze the positions of these HI-deficient and other spiral galaxies in velocity-distance plots, inwhich we include our compilation of velocity-distance data on 61elliptical galaxies, and compare with simulated velocity-distancediagrams obtained from cosmological N-body simulations. We find that20% relative Tully-Fisher distance errors are consistent with thegreat majority of the spirals, except for a small number of objectswhose positions in the velocity-distance diagram suggest grosslyincorrect distances, implying that the Tully-Fisher error distributionfunction has non-Gaussian wings. Moreover, we find that the distanceerrors may lead to an incorrect fitting of the Tolman-Bondi solutionthat can generate significant errors in the distance and especially themass estimates of the cluster. We suggest 4 possibilities for theoutlying H I-deficient spirals (in decreasing frequency): 1) they havelarge relative distance errors and are in fact close enough (atdistances between 12.7 and 20.9 Mpc from us) to the cluster to havepassed through its core and seen their gas removed by ram pressurestripping; 2) their gas is converted to stars by tidal interactions withother galaxies; 3) their gas is heated during recent mergers withsmaller galaxies; and 4) they are not truly H I-deficient (e.g. S0/amisclassified as Sa).Appendix A is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org Spectrophotometry of galaxies in the Virgo cluster. II. The dataDrift-scan mode (3600-6800 Å) spectra with 500 Cold dust and molecular gas towards the centers of Magellanic type galaxies and irregulars. I. The dataWe present 1300 μm continuum emission measurements and observationsof the 12CO (1-0) and (2-1) transition towards the centers of64 Magellanic type galaxies (Sdm/Sm) and irregulars (Im/I0/Irr). Thesources are selected to have IRAS flux densities S100 μm≥1000 mJy and optical diameters mainly below 180 arcsec. We wereable to detect 12CO towards 41 and the continuum emissiontowards 28 galaxies. In addition, we obtained the corresponding data fora set of 6 complementary galaxies of different morphological type.Based on observations collected at ESO, La Silla, Chile and IRAM, PicoVeleta, Spain.The full version of Figs. \ref{spec1.fig} and \ref{spec2.fig} is onlyavailable in electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org Globular Clusters as Candidates for Gravitational Lenses to Explain Quasar-Galaxy AssociationsWe argue that globular clusters (GCs) are good candidates forgravitational lenses in explaining quasar-galaxy associations. Thecatalog of associations (Bukhmastova 2001) compiled from the LEDAcatalog of galaxies (Paturel 1997) and from the catalog of quasars(Veron-Cetty and Veron 1998) is used. Based on the new catalog, we showthat one might expect an increased number of GCs around irregulargalaxies of types 9 and 10 from the hypothesis that distant compactsources are gravitationally lensed by GCs in the halos of foregroundgalaxies. The King model is used to determine the central surfacedensities of 135 GCs in the Milky Way. The distribution of GCs incentral surface density was found to be lognormal. The Kinematic State of the Local VolumeThe kinematics of galaxies within 10 Mpc of the Milky Way isinvestigated using published distances and radial velocities. Withrespect to the average Hubble flow (isotropic or simple anisotropic),there is no systematic relation between peculiar velocity dispersion andabsolute magnitude over a range of 10 mag; neither is there any apparentvariation with galaxy type or between field and cluster members. Thereare several possible explanations for the lack of variation, though allhave difficulties: either there is no relationship between light andmass on these scales, the peculiar velocities are not produced bygravitational interaction, or the background dynamical picture is wrongin some systematic way. The extremely cold local flow of 40-60 kms-1 dispersion reported by some authors is shown to be anartifact of sparse data, a velocity dispersion of over 100 kms-1 being closer to the actual value. Galaxies with a high(positive) radial velocity have been selected against in studies of thisvolume, biasing numerical results. Classifications of the Host Galaxies of SupernovaeClassifications on the DDO system are given for the host galaxies of 177supernovae (SNe) that have been discovered since 1997 during the courseof the Lick Observatory Supernova Search with the Katzman AutomaticImaging Telescope. Whereas SNe Ia occur in all galaxy types, it isfound, at a high level of statistical confidence, that SNe Ib, Ic, andII are strongly concentrated in late-type galaxies. However, attentionis drawn to a possible exception provided by SN 2001I. This SN IInoccurred in the E2 galaxy UGC 2836, which was not expected to harbor amassive young supernova progenitor. A Hubble Space Telescope Snapshot Survey of Nearby SupernovaeWe present photometry of 13 recent supernovae (SNe) recovered in aHubble Space Telescope Snapshot program and tie the measurements toearlier ground-based observations in order to study the late-timeevolution of the SNe. Many of the ground-based measurements arepreviously unpublished and were made primarily with a robotic telescope,the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope. Evidence for circumstellarinteraction is common among the core-collapse SNe. Late-time declinerates for Type IIn SNe are found to span a wide range, perhaps becauseof differences in circumstellar interaction. An extreme case, SN IIn1995N, declined by only 1.2 mag in V over about 4 yr followingdiscovery. Template images of some SNe must therefore be obtained manyyears after the explosion if contamination from the SN itself is to beminimized. Evidence is found against a previous hypothesis that the TypeIIn SN 1997bs was actually a superoutburst of a luminous blue variablestar. The peculiar SN Ic 1997ef, a hypernova,'' declined very slowlyat late times. The decline rate of the SN Ia 2000cx decreased at latetimes, but this is unlikely to have been caused by a light echo.Partially based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble SpaceTelescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which isoperated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy(AURA), Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. The Three-dimensional Structure of the Virgo Cluster Region from Tully-Fisher and H I DataThe distances and H I contents of 161 spiral galaxies in the region ofthe Virgo cluster are used to gain insight into the complicatedstructure of this galaxy system. Special attention has been paid to theinvestigation of the suggestion presented in an earlier work that someperipheral Virgo groups may contain strongly gas-deficient spiralgalaxies. The three-dimensional galaxy distribution has been inferredfrom quality distance estimates obtained by averaging distance modulibased on the Tully-Fisher relationship taken from eight published datasets previously homogenized, resulting in a relation with a dispersionof 0.41 mag. Previous findings that the spiral distribution issubstantially more elongated along the line of sight than in the planeof the sky are confirmed by the current data. In addition, an importanteast-west disparity in this effect has been detected. The overallwidth-to-depth ratio of the Virgo cluster region is about 1:4, with themost distant objects concentrated in the western half. The filamentarystructure of the spiral population and its orientation are alsoreflected by the H I-deficient objects alone. The H I deficiency patternshows a central enhancement extending from ~16 to 22 Mpc inline-of-sight distance; most of this enhancement arises from galaxiesthat belong to the Virgo cluster proper. However, significant gasdeficiencies are also detected outside the main body of the cluster in aprobable group of galaxies at line-of-sight distances ~25-30 Mpc, lyingin the region dominated by the southern edge of the M49 subcluster andclouds W' and W, as well as in various foreground galaxies. In the Virgoregion, the H I content of the galaxies then is not a straightforwardindicator of cluster membership. The UZC-SSRS2 Group CatalogWe apply a friends-of-friends algorithm to the combined Updated ZwickyCatalog and Southern Sky Redshift Survey to construct a catalog of 1168groups of galaxies; 411 of these groups have five or more members withinthe redshift survey. The group catalog covers 4.69 sr, and all groupsexceed the number density contrast threshold, δρ/ρ=80. Wedemonstrate that the groups catalog is homogeneous across the twounderlying redshift surveys; the catalog of groups and their membersthus provides a basis for other statistical studies of the large-scaledistribution of groups and their physical properties. The medianphysical properties of the groups are similar to those for groupsderived from independent surveys, including the ESO Key Programme andthe Las Campanas Redshift Survey. We include tables of groups and theirmembers. Supernova 1999gq in NGC 4523IAUC 7365 available at Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. Supernovae 1999gh, 1999gk, 1999gm, 1999gn, 1999gqIAUC 7347 available at Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. The MARTINI adaptive optics instrumentThe Multi-Aperture Real Time Image Normalisation Instrument (MARTINI) isan adaptive optics system designed to operate at one of the Nasmythfocal stations of the 4.2 m William Herschel Telescope. Correction ofatmospherically distorted images is achieved by the action of a sixelement segmented mirror in a real-time servo loop controlled by thesignal from a CCD based Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor. A unique aspectof the MARTINI instrument is that, from its conception, it was designedto be capable of image sharpening at visible wavelengths. An outline ofthe mechanical and electronic arrangement of MARTINI is given, togetherwith a description of its modes of operation, facilities andperformance. Also described are some of the first scientific resultsobtained with the instrument. The first seven UK supernova discoveriesThis paper outlines the early history of amateur patrolling forsupernovae from the United Kingdom, describes the methods employed bythe patrollers, and provides a detailed description in the words of theobservers of the first seven successful discoveries, made between 1996October and 1998 April. The UK Nova/Supernova Patrol-The First 25 YearsThe history, accomplishments, and activities of the UK Nova/SupernovaPatrol are described. The Arecibo Dual-Beam Survey: Arecibo and VLA ObservationsThe Arecibo Dual-Beam Survey is a blind'' 21 cm search for galaxiescovering ~430 deg2 of sky. We present the data from thedetection survey as well as from the follow-up observations to confirmdetections and improve positions and flux measurements. We find 265galaxies, many of which are extremely low surface brightness. Some ofthese previously uncataloged galaxies lie within the zone of avoidance,where they are obscured by the gas and dust in our Galaxy. Eighty-one ofthese sources are not previously cataloged optically, and there are 11galaxies that have no associated optical counterpart or are onlytentatively associated with faint wisps of nebulosity on the DigitizedSky Survey images. We discuss the properties of the survey, and inparticular we make direct determinations of the completeness andreliability of the sample. The behavior of the completeness and itsdependencies is essential for determining the H I mass function. Weleave the discussion of the mass function for a later paper, but do notethat we find many low surface brightness galaxies and seven sources withMHI<108 Msolar. The AreciboObservatory is part of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center,which is operated by Cornell University under cooperative agreement withthe National Science Foundation. in Puerto Rico. Nearby Optical Galaxies: Selection of the Sample and Identification of GroupsIn this paper we describe the Nearby Optical Galaxy (NOG) sample, whichis a complete, distance-limited (cz<=6000 km s-1) andmagnitude-limited (B<=14) sample of ~7000 optical galaxies. Thesample covers 2/3 (8.27 sr) of the sky (|b|>20deg) andappears to have a good completeness in redshift (97%). We select thesample on the basis of homogenized corrected total blue magnitudes inorder to minimize systematic effects in galaxy sampling. We identify thegroups in this sample by means of both the hierarchical and thepercolation friends-of-friends'' methods. The resulting catalogs ofloose groups appear to be similar and are among the largest catalogs ofgroups currently available. Most of the NOG galaxies (~60%) are found tobe members of galaxy pairs (~580 pairs for a total of ~15% of objects)or groups with at least three members (~500 groups for a total of ~45%of objects). About 40% of galaxies are left ungrouped (field galaxies).We illustrate the main features of the NOG galaxy distribution. Comparedto previous optical and IRAS galaxy samples, the NOG provides a densersampling of the galaxy distribution in the nearby universe. Given itslarge sky coverage, the identification of groups, and its high-densitysampling, the NOG is suited to the analysis of the galaxy density fieldof the nearby universe, especially on small scales. Distances to 24 Galaxies in the Direction of the Virgo Cluster and a Determination of the Hubble ConstantTo study the spatial distribution of galaxies lying between the Virgocluster and the Local Group, a search was made for probable nearbygalaxies. Using the method of brightest stars and of blue and redsupergiants made it possible to determine the distances to 24 galaxies,among which six relatively nearby galaxies were identified. The resultsof the distance determinations showed that the maximum in the numberdistribution of galaxies lies at 17.0 Mpc, which we take as the distanceto the Virgo cluster. Using the difference between the distance moduliof two clusters of galaxies, in Virgo and Coma Berenices, fromliterature sources and the velocity of the latter cluster, we determinedthe Hubble constant to be H 0 = 77 ± 7km·sec-1·Mpc-1. HI observations of nearby galaxies . I. The first list of the Karachentsev catalogWe present HI observations of the galaxies in the first list of theKarachentsev catalog of previously unknown nearby dwarf galaxies(Karachentseva & Karachentsev 1998). This survey covers all knownnearby galaxy groups within the Local Volume (i.e. within 10 Mpc) andtheir environment, that is about 25% of the total sky. A total of 257galaxies have been observed with a detection rate of 60%. We searched afrequency band corresponding to heliocentric radial velocities from -470km s-1 to ~ +4000 km s-1. Non-detections areeither due to limited coverage in radial velocity, confusion with LocalHI (mainly in the velocity range -140 km s-1 to +20 kms-1), or lack of sensitivity for very weak emission. 25% ofthe detected galaxies are located within the Local Volume. Thosegalaxies are dwarf galaxies judged by their optical linear diameter (1.4+/- 0.2 kpc on the average), their mean total HI mass (4.6107 Msun), and their observed linewidths (39 kms-1). Supernova 1999gq in NGC 4523IAUC 7339 available at Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. Supernova 1999gq in NGC 4523IAUC 7337 available at Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams.
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