Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “GALAXIES”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,459 records · Page 81
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1990

The interstellar medium in galaxies - An overview

Recent observational developments on the subject of the interstellar medium in galaxies are summarized, with emphasis placed on global properties. The properties and distribution of the ISM in the solar neighborhood and in the Galactic plane are examined and a number of results from the most important observational probes (HI, CO, and infrared) are described. A recent development is the observation of the ISM in galaxies of all morphological types, early to late. These developments are summarized and the properties of different types of galaxies are compared to one another. The origin of radio galaxies, the effect of environment, and the prospects for direct observations of ISM evolution in galaxies are discussed.

Knapp, G. R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Cooling flows and X-ray emission in early-type galaxies

The X-ray properties of normal early-type galaxies and the limited theoretical understanding of the physics of the hot interstellar medium in these galaxies are reviewed. A number of simple arguments about the physical state of the gas are given. Steady-state cooling flow models for these galaxies are presented, and their time-dependent evolution is discussed. The X-ray emission found in early-type galaxies indicates that they contain significant amounts of hot interstellar gas, and that they are not the gas-poor systems they were previously thought to be. In the brighter X-ray galaxies, the amounts of hot gas observed are consistent with those expected given the present rates of stellar mass loss. The required rates of heating of the gas are consistent with those expected from the motions of gas-losing stars and supernovae. The X-ray observations are generally more consistent with a lower rate of Type I supernovae than was previously thought.

Sarazin, Craig L.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Profuse central star formation in 'SO' galaxies

Radio continuum flux densities, far infrared flux densities, far infrared colors, and ultraviolet and optical spectra indicate that high rates of star formation are occurring in some SO galaxies, especially barred galaxies. Radio continuum and infrared images show that the star forming region is typically concentrated within the central few kpc of the galaxy. The high incidence of central star formation in barred galaxies suggests that bar-driven inflow of gas is fueling the star-forming regions in these galaxies.

Dressel, L. L.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The discovery of a young radio galaxy at z = 2.390 - Probing initial star formation at z less than approximately 3.0

The discovery of a weak radio galaxy from the Leiden Berkeley Deep Survey at a redshift of 2.390 is presented, as well as nine-band photometry for the galaxy and for surrounding objects. The source 53W002 is not variable on the time scales of years. Its rest-frame UV continuum is compared with IUE spectra of various nearby galaxies with relatively recent starbursts, and with nearby AGNs. It is inferred from the C IV/Ly-alpha and N V/Ly-alpha ratios that 53W002 has a Seyfert 1-like AGN, and that the ratios constrain the nonthermal component to about 35 percent of the observed UV continuum. Several independent age estimates yield a consistent value of 0.25-0.32 Gyr. The available data are consistent with 53W002 being a genuinely young galaxy seen at a redshift of 2.390 during its first major starburst. It likely started forming most of its current stars at redshifts between 2.5 and 3.0, suggesting that radio galaxies do not form the bulk of their stars coevally, but start doing so over a lengthy period of cosmic time.

Windhorst, Rogier A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Gravitational lensing frequencies - Galaxy cross-sections and selection effects

Four issues - (1) the best currently available data on the galaxy velocity-dispersion distribution, (2) the effects of finite core radii potential ellipticity on lensing cross sections, (3) the predicted distribution of lens image separations compared to observational angular resolutions, and (4) the preferential inclusion of lens systems in flux limited samples - are considered in order to facilitate more realistic predictions of multiple image galaxy-quasar lensing frequencies. It is found that (1) the SIS lensing parameter F equals 0.047 +/-0.019 with almost 90 percent contributed by E and S0 galaxies, (2) observed E and S0 core radii are remarkably small, yielding a factor of less than about 2 reduction in total lensing cross sections, (3) 50 percent of galaxy-quasar lenses have image separations greater than about 1.3 arcsec, and (4) amplification bias factors are large and must be carefully taken into account. It is concluded that flat universe models excessively dominated by the cosmological constant are not favored by the small observed galaxy-quasar lensing rate.

Fukugita, Masataka↗
NASA NTRS1991

Polarized radio emission from the edge-on spiral galaxies NGC 891 and NGC 4565

Results are presented, at a resolution of 20 arcsec, of observations of the distribution of radio continuum intensity and linear polarization with the VLA in two nearby edge-on spiral galaxies, NGC 891 and NGC 4565, at 6 and 20 cm, respectively. A unified model is presented to account for the main features of the radio polarization in these two galaxies. The model geometry is determined from recent observations of face-on galaxies where the polarized emission is found to be strongest in the dark inter-arm and outer parts of the disks. A substantial Z-thickness is ascribed to this polarized emission. It is shown that the exceptionally strong wavelength dependence of this type of Faraday depolarization can result in edge-on galaxies becoming rapidly 'Faraday thick' at decimeter wavelengths, thereby obliterating the polarization from regions on the dark side of the disk. The degree of polarization observed in both galaxies increases strongly with increasing Z-distance from the plane.

Sukumar, S.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The fueling of active galaxies

Collisions of galaxies are often invoked to explain violent phenomena in the universe. The dynamics of interacting galaxies is intrinsically three-dimensional and involves both gas and stellar dynamics. In general, a computational approach is needed to model galactic collisions. Galaxy encounters are studied using a hybrid N-body/hydrodynamics code, capable of integrating systems of stars, gas, and dark matter in a fully self-consistent manner. These experiments demonstrate that gravitational coupling between gas and stars in galactic interactions can drive most of the gas throughout a galaxy into the nucleus of a merger remnant. The high densities in these gas concentrations are likely to result in strong bursts of star formation. Hence, this process may explain the nuclear starbursts in some systems of interacting galaxies. Further collapse of these gas concentrations can trigger even more intense activity if some gas is eventually accreted by a supermassive black hole. Such an evolutionary sequence may account for some quasars and active galactic nuclei.

Hernquist, Lars↗
NASA NTRS1992

Spectroscopy of emission-line nebulae in powerful radio galaxies - Interpretation

Long-slit optical spectra of the emission-line nebulae associated with 21 low-redshift (less than 0.2) radio galaxies are analyzed. Nebulae are classified kinematically into three types: rotators, calm nonrotators, and violent nonrotators; these types are characterized. It is proposed that the rotators have dynamically young disks of gas recently acquired by the radio galaxy in an interaction or merger with a gas-rich galaxy. This is consistent with the data on the morphologies, colors, and stellar dynamics of radio galaxies with strong emission lines. It is inferred from the association of the large-scale gas kinematics with the radio and optical properties of an active galaxy that the angular momentum of the gas which fuels the AGN may be an important parameter in the determinant of how activity is manifest in an AGN.

Baum, S. A.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The radial distribution of oxygen in disk galaxies

The shape of the oxygen abundance profile is examined for seven nearby spiral galaxies in which at least 15 H II regions have been observed. The radial abundance profile for three of these galaxies has a distinct change in slope. The others show no deviation from a single scale-length exponential. This behavior is explained within the framework of the star-forming viscous disk model of galaxy evolution. A prediction is made that radial abundance profiles of noninteracting unbarred spiral galaxies change slope at the radius where the rotation curve changes from linearly rising to flat. For barred and interacting galaxies the situation is complicated by additional mixing mechanisms of the interstellar medium.

Zaritsky, Dennis↗
NASA NTRS1992

On the origin of globular clusters in elliptical galaxies

Multivariate statistical analysis is used to correlate the estimated total numbers of globular clusters in elliptical galaxies (N sub gc), and the numbers per unit luminosity (S sub N), with a variety of observed properties of the host galaxies. Both N sub gc and S sub N are correlated with the so-called fundamental plane of elliptical galaxies, suggesting that the processes which determine global properties of ellipticals also largely determine their globular cluster content, although a considerable residual scatter remians. The redder (presumably more metal-rich) galaxies were found to have more globular clusters, implying that a dissipative formation mechanism was involved. Galaxies which have more anisotropic velocity distributions were also found to have more clusters, suggesting that mergers may have been important in the production of globular systems.

Djorgovski, S.↗
NASA NTRS1992

IRAS LRS spectroscopy of galaxies

The study presents IRAS LRS data for 350 galaxies with pointlike IRAS sources having either S(12) or S(25) not less than 1.5 Jy. Techniques are presented which form the mean of an ensemble of LRS spectra, ll of which are only of low signal-to-noise ratio, by quantitative evaluation of the significance of the individual spectra for each object rather than mere acceptance of the 'average spectrum' present in the complete LRS data base. Average LRS spectra for groups of galaxies with distinct optical nuclear properties are formed. Average LRS spectra for several categories of objects are presented and interpreted. H II region galaxies show the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon spectrum of bands in emissions; type 2 Seyferts present a broad emission feature parking near 16 microns; LINERs and galaxies without optical emission lines have LRS spectra that decline with wavelength, whereas type 1 Seyferts and WR galaxies have red spectra suggestive of nonthermal emission processes.

Cohen, M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Starburst Galaxies: Hard X-ray spectra and contribution to the diffuse background

During the period of this grant two main tasks were performed: a determination of a selection criterion for starburst galaxies most likely to emit X-rays, and performance of a pilot study of the X-ray emission from nine such systems. Starburst galaxies may be expected to emit flat-spectrum X-ray at energies above 10 keV resulting from the various remnants of the short-lived massive stars which characterize the starburst. The investigation to determine the optimum sample resulted in a change from an X-ray selected (HEAO-2) sample to infrared selection based on the IRAS catalogue. A much broader sample thereby available for study, and selection could be limited to only the nearest objects and still obtain a reasonably large sample. A sample of 99 of the brightest infrared starburst galaxies was settled on for the X-ray survey. For a set of practical size, this was then reduced to a subset of 53, based on luminosity and nearness. X-ray emission from these objects was individually measured from the UCSD HEAO-1 all-sky survey in four energy bands between 13 keV to 160 keV. This data base consists of about 20 optical disk volumes. Net significance for the result was roughly two sigma, and a very hard spectral shape is indicated for the net spectrum of the surveyed galaxies. With the possibility of detection of the class, it was then felt worthwhile to examine fluxes from these sources in other archival data. This was performed with the HEAO-1 A2 data and the HEAO-2 (EINSTEIN) main archive and slew survey. Positive results were also obtained for the sample, but again at weak significance. With three independent measures of weak X-ray fluxes from nearby starburst galaxies, we wrote a letter to the Astrophysical Journal (enclosed) discussing these results and their likely significance, in particular, for the contribution to the cosmic diffuse x-ray background, perhaps as much as 25 percent.

Gruber, Duane E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Two searches for primeval galaxies

A number of active galaxies are now known at very large redshifts, some of them even have properties suggestive of galaxies in the process of formation. They commonly show strong Ly-alpha emission, at least some of which appears to be ionized by young stars. Inferred star formation rates are in the range approximately = 100-500 solar mass/yr. An important question is: are there radio-quiet, field counterparts of these systems at comparable redshifts? Whereas, we are probably already observing some evolutionary and formative processes of distant radio galaxies, the ultimate goal is to observe normal galaxies at the epoch when most of their stars form. We have, thus, started a search for emission-line objects at large redshifts, ostensibly young and forming galaxies. Our method is to search for strong line emission (hopefully Ly alpha) employing two techniques: a direct, narrow-band imaging search, using a Fabry-Perot interferometer; and a serendipitous long-slit spectroscopic search.

Thompson, D.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Clustering of very luminous infrared galaxies and their environment

The IRAS survey reveals a class of ultraluminous infrared (IR) galaxies (ULIRG's) with IR luminosities comparable to the bolometric luminosities of quasars. The nature, origin, and evolution of ULIRG's are attracting more and more attention recently. Since galaxy morphology is certainly a function of environment, morphological observations show that ULIRG's are interacting/merging galaxies, and some ULIRG's might be the dust-enshrouded quasars (S88) or giant ellipticals, the study of ULIRG's environment and large scale clustering effects should be worthwhile. ULIRG's and very luminous IR galaxies have been selected from the 2Jy IRAS redshift survey. Meanwhile, a catalog of IRAS groups of galaxies has been constructed using a percolation-like algorithm. Therefore, whether ULIRG's and/or VLIRG's have a group environment can be checked immediately. Other aspects of the survey are discussed.

Gao, YU↗
NASA NTRS1993

The large-scale morphology of IRAS galaxies

At present, visual inspection is the only method for comparing the large-scale morphologies in the distribution of galaxies to those in model universes generated by N-body simulations. To remedy the situation, we have developed a set of three structure functions (S1, S2, S3) that quantify the degree of large-scale prolateness, oblateness, and sphericity/uniformity of a 3-D particle distribution and have applied them to a volume-limited (less than = 4000 km/s) sample of 699 IRAS galaxies with f sub 60 greater than 1.2 Jy. To determine the structure functions, we randomly select 500 galaxies as origins of spherical windows of radius R sub w, locate the centroid of the galaxies in the window (assuming all galaxies have equal mass) and then, compute the principal moments of inertia (I sub 1, I sub 2, I sub 3) about the centroid. Each S sub i is a function of (I sub 2)/(I sub 1) and (I sub 3)/I sub 1). S1, S2, and S3 tend to unity for highly prolate, oblate, and uniform distributions, respectively and tend to zero otherwise. The resulting 500 values of S sub i at each scale R sub w are used to construct a histogram.

Babul, Arif↗
NASA NTRS1993

Distant radio galaxies in the near IR

We are carrying out a program of near IR imaging and spectroscopy of radio galaxies with redshifts of 1.5 and greater. One of its principal goals is to constrain the ages and star formation histories of massive galaxies at early epochs. The radio galaxies are drawn from the survey of 1Jy class sources by McCarthy et al (1989) and McCarthy (1990). The sample contains 18 radio galaxies with redshifts greater than 2 and an additional 10 objects with 1.5 less than z less than 2.0. The redshifts were obtained from long slit spectra with the CTIO 4 m. While the galaxies are quite faint (r approximately = 21-24.5) all have Lyman alpha emission with rest frame equivalent widths of 100 - 1000 A. Multicolor photometry in the g,r,i and J,H,K bands has been obtained with the 2.5-m Du Pont Telescope on Las Campanas and with the Hale 5 m telescope at Palomar. We have recently obtained near IR spectra, using the 4 m telescopes at KPNO and CTIO, of a few objects with the goal of determining the Lyman alpha/H-alpha ratio and hence the reddening.

Mccarthy, P. J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Extremely red objects in the fields of high redshift radio galaxies

We are engaged in a program of infrared imaging photometry of high redshift radio galaxies. The observations are being done using NICMOS2 and NICMOS3 arrays on the DuPont 100-inch telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. In addition, Persson and Matthews are measuring the spectral energy distributions of normal cluster galaxies in the redshift range 0 to 1. These measurements are being done with a 58 x 62 InSb array on the Palomar 5-m telescope. During the course of these observations we have imaged roughly 20 square arcminutes of sky to limiting magnitudes greater than 20 in the J, H, and K passbands (3 sigma in 3 square arcseconds). We have detected several relatively bright, extremely red, extended objects during the course of this work. Because the radio galaxy program requires Thuan-Gunn gri photometry, we are able to construct rough photometric energy distributions for many of the objects. A sample of the galaxy magnitudes within 4 arcseconds diameter is given. All the detections are real; either the objects show up at several wavelengths, or in subsets of the data. The reddest object in the table, 9ab'B' was found in a field of galaxies in a rich cluster at z = 0.4; 9ab'A' lies 8 arcseconds from it.

Persson, S. E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Low surface brightness galaxies

A program to investigate the properties of low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies involving surface photometry in U, B, V, R, I, and H-alpha, HI imaging with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) and the very large array (VLA) and spectrophotometry of H2 regions in LSB galaxies is underway. The goal is to verify the idea that LSB galaxies have low star formation rates because the local gas density falls below the critical density for star formation, and to study the stellar population and abundances in LSB galaxies. Such information should help understanding the evolutionary history of LSB galaxies. Some preliminary results are reported.

Vanderhulst, J. M.↗