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Schwarzschild, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Schwarzschild, M..

A photometric determination of twists in early-type galaxies. II

In continuation of previous work, detailed photometric data have been obtained for two elliptical galaxies by using the Mount Lemmon 1.5-m telescope and a large SEC television camera. As before, the aim of this photometry is to gain additional information on the occurrence of twists in such galaxies; i.e., on the change of the position angle of the major axes of the isophotes from the center outward. No significant twist was found in NGC 1052. However, NGC 584 was found to have a securely observed twist of about 10 deg within 10 kpc from its center. These data strengthen previous indications that many ellipticals contain twists in their inner, bright portions.

Williams, T. B.↗

Large area CCD image sensors for space astronomy

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has a substantial program to develop a 2200 x 2200 pixel CCD (Charge Coupled Device) mosaic array made up of 400 individual CCD's, 110 x 110 pixels square. This type of image sensor appeared to have application in space and ground-based astronomy. Under this grant a CCD television camera system was built which was capable of operating an array of 4 CCD's to explore the suitability of the CCD's to explore the suitability of the CCD for astronomical applications. Two individual packaged CCD's were received and evaluated. Evaluation of the basic characteristics of the best individual chips was encouraging, but the manufacturer found that their yield in manufacturing this design is two low to supply sufficient CDD's for the DARPA mosaic array. The potential utility of large mosaic arrays in astronomy is still substantial and continued monitoring of the manufacturers progress in the coming year is recommended.

Schwarzschild, M.↗

A photometric determination of twists in three early-type galaxies

Detailed photometric data have been obtained for three early-type galaxies by using the Cerro Tololo 1.5-m telescope and an SEC television camera. The aim of this photometry is to gain further accurate information on the occurrence of twists in such galaxies; i.e., on any variations with radius of the position angle of the major axes of the isophotes. The results of the photometry are: (1) the finding of no detectable twist within the bulge of the S0 galaxy NGC 5102; (2) confirmation of a substantial twist (about 10 deg) in the inner portion of the E3 galaxy IC 1459; and (3) determination of a moderate twist (about 5 deg) within the E4 galaxy NGC 4697, possibly too small to have been previously detected. If such moderate twists should turn out to be common in elliptical galaxies, the suspicion of triaxiality for most such galaxies would be enhanced.

Williams, T. B.↗

Absolute spectrophotometry in M31 and M32

For a number of places in the bulge of M31, and for two places in M32, photometric scans from lambda = 3300 A to lambda = 10,600 A have been obtained with the multichannel spectrometer on the 5-m Hale telescope. The scans show that in both objects the color temperature (particularly shortward of 5000 A) decreases toward the center, and that the strength of the CN bands increases toward the center in both objects, in agreement with other earlier observations. The new data can all be interpreted in terms of an increase of heavy-element abundance toward the center in both objects by a factor probably less than 2, and by an excess of heavy elements in M31 compared with M32 by a factor probably greater than 2, in qualitative agreement with earlier conclusions of other observers.

Oke, J. B.↗

The nucleus of M31

The nucleus of M31 was photographed at a resolution of 0.2 sec with the 91-cm balloon-borne Stratoscope II telescope. At the half-intensity level, the nucleus was observed to be elliptical with its major axis lying in position angle of 63 (plus or minus 5) deg. The peak surface brightness was 12.7 plus or minus 0.3 V mag per square second of arc assuming B - V = 1.0. The nucleus appears to be a separate feature from the bulge with a scale height of approximately 0.5 pc. The mass of the nucleus is of the order of 100 million solar masses, and the apparent visual mass-to-light ratio is of the order of 20.

Light, E. S.↗

Absolute spectrophotometry in M31 and M32

For a number of places in the bulge of M31 and for two places in M32 photometric scans from 3300 A to 10,600 A have been obtained with the multichannel spectrometer on the 5-meter Hale telescope. The scans show that in both objects the color temperature (particularly shortwards of 5000 A) decreases towards the center and that the strength of the CN bands increases towards the center in both objects in agreement with earlier observations. The new data can all be interpreted in terms of an increase of heavy element abundance towards the center in both objects by a factor probably less than 2 and by an excess of heavy elements in M31 compared to M32 by a factor probably greater than 2, in qualitative agreement with earlier conclusions.

Oke, J. B.↗