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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.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1972

Preliminary results of OAO ultraviolet photoelectric photometry of galaxies

General results are presented based on nearly completed reductions of data for approximately 35 galaxies of all Hubble types. In general the visual and ultraviolet energy distributions are well correlated. The energy distribution in late-type galaxies appears to turn up sharply in the region around 2000 A, and this is tentatively interpreted as due to the presence of early-type stars whose energy distribution is modified by interstellar dust within these objects. Similar turnups may be present in several elliptical galaxies but the evidence at this time is not definitive.

Code, A. D.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Evidence of underdeveloped torus and broad-line region of weak emission line quasars based on their spectral energy distribution

To unravel the dominant cause of the weak emission line in a subset of optically selected radio-quiet ‘weak emission line quasars’ (WLQs), we have investigated the possibility of an underdeveloped broad line region (BLR). For this, we have modelled spectral energy distributions (SED) of 61 WLQs by using their optical and infrared (IR) photometric observations from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and WISE, respectively. SED fit consists of various emission components, including the luminosity from the dusty torus (L tor ). For comparison with the normal quasar, we have used a control sample of 55 Quasi-Stellar Objects (QSOs) for each WLQ matching in emission redshift and SDSS r-band. Based on our measurement of L tor , we found a decrement of 42 ± 2 per cent in IR luminosity in WLQs with respect to the control sample of normal QSOs. Using L tor /L bol as the measure of torus covering factor (CF tor ), we found a similar decrement in WLQ covering factor, with their CF tor distribution being significantly different with respect to the normal QSOs with a KS test P null of 4.27 × 10 −14 . As dusty torus and BLR covering factors are expected to be of a similar order in active galactic nucleus (AGN), our results suggest that the BLR in the WLQs is underdeveloped and could be a dominant cause of the weakness of their emission line. As a result, our analysis gives support to the models of WLQs based on the evolution scenario being in an early stage of AGNs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1990

A redshift survey toward a proposed void of galaxies suggested by the distribution of Abell clusters

A program of redshift measurements was carried out in a region of the sky in which a relative under-density of Abell clusters had been used to infer the presence of a large (diameter about 40/h Mpc) void in the general galaxy distribution. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the large-scale distribution of galaxies is traced by the distribution of rich clusters. Redshifts are presented for 308 galaxies in the Zwicky Catalog in a 234 square degree region centered on R.A. about 2h, Decl. about 12 deg of which 229 have been newly measured. These data reveal a pattern of filamentary structure alternating with voids of characteristic diameter about 25-30/h Mpc, throughout the volume sampled. While the redshift data reveal an underdensity in the distribution of galaxies in the general region suggested by the Abell cluster distribution, they do not support the existence there of a 40/h Mpc diameter void.

Willick, Jeffrey A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Evolution of luminous IRAS galaxies: Radio imaging

In a recent study of IRAS galaxies' optical morphologies, we found that luminous IR sources lie in the IR color-luminosity plane in groups which separate out by optical spectroscopic type and also by degree of tidal disturbance. We found that the most luminous steep-IR-spectrum sources are generally galaxies in the initial stages of a major tidal interaction. Galaxies with active nuclei were generally found to have flatter IR spectra, to cover a range of IR luminosity, and to be in the later stages of a tidal interaction. We proposed a sequence of events by which luminous IR sources evolve: they start as interacting or merging galaxies, some develop active nuclei, and most undergo extensive star-formation in their central regions. Another way to study these objects and their individual evolution is to study their radio morphologies. Radio emission may arise at a detectable level from supernovae in star-forming regions and/or the appearance of an active nucleus can be accompanied by a nuclear radio source (which may develop extended structure). Therefore, the compact radio structure may trace the evolution of the inner regions of IRAS-luminous sources. If the radio sources are triggered by the interactions, we would expect to find the radio morphology related to the optical 'interactivity' of the systems. Here, we explore using the radio emission of IRAS galaxies as a possible tracer of galaxy evolution. We present and discuss observations of the compact radio morphology of 111 luminous IRAS-selected active galaxies covering a wide range of IR and optical properties.

Neff, S. G.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Galaxy-multiplet clustering from DESI DR2

We present an efficient estimator for higher-order galaxy clustering using small groups of nearby galaxies, or multiplets. Using the Luminous Red Galaxy (LRG) sample from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Data Release 2, we identify galaxy multiplets as discrete objects and measure their cross-correlations with the general galaxy field. Our results show that the multiplets exhibit stronger clustering bias as they trace more massive dark matter halos than individual galaxies. When comparing the observed clustering statistics with the mock catalogs generated from the N-body simulation AbacusSummit, we find that the mocks underpredict multiplet clustering despite reproducing the galaxy two-point auto-correlation reasonably well. This discrepancy indicates that the standard Halo Occupation Distribution (HOD) model is insufficient to describe the properties of galaxy multiplets, revealing the greater constraining power of this higher-order statistic on galaxy-halo connection and the possibility that multiplets are specific to additional assembly bias. We demonstrate that incorporating secondary biases into the HOD model improves agreement with the observed multiplet statistics, specifically by allowing galaxies to preferentially occupy halos in denser environments. Our results highlight the potential of utilizing multiplet clustering, beyond traditional two-point correlation measurements, to break degeneracies in models describing the galaxy-dark matter connection.

cosmology↗
NASA NTRS1987

Mass distributions in elliptical galaxies at large radii

Recently, X-ray observations have shown that elliptical galaxies generally contain large quantities of hot gas. Central dominant cluster ellipticals have even more gas, which they have accreted from the surrounding clusters. The mass distributions in these galaxies can be derived from the condition of hydrostatic equilibrium. M87, the best studied central dominant galaxy, has a massive, dark halo with a total mass of about 4 x 10 to the 12th solar masses within a radius of 300 kpc. The total mass-to-light ratio within this radius is at least 150 solar mass/solar luminosity. The X-ray observations of normal ellipticals also strongly suggest that they have heavy halos, although the distribution of the mass is much less certain than in M87.

Sarazin, Craig L.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Central star formation in S0 galaxies

As a class, S0 galaxies are characterized by a lack of resolved bright stars in the disk. However, several lines of evidence support the hypothesis that a high rate of star formation is occurring at the centers of some S0 galaxies. Many of the warmest, most powerful far infrared sources in nearby bright galaxies occur in S0 galaxies. (Dressel 1988, Ap. J., 329, L69). The ratios of radio continuum flux to far infrared flux for these S0 galaxies are comparable to the ratios found for spiral galaxy disks and for star-burst galaxies. Very Large Array (VLA) maps of some of these S0 galaxies show that the radio continuum emission originates in the central few kiloparsecs. It is diffuse or clumpy, unlike the radio sources in active S0 galaxies, which are either extremely compact or have jet-lobe structures. Imaging of some of these galaxies at 10.8 microns shows that the infrared emission is also centrally concentrated. Many of the infrared-powerful S0 galaxies are Markarian galaxies. In only one case in this sample is the powerful ultraviolet emission known to be generated by a Seyfert nucleus. Optical spectra of the central few kiloparsecs of these S0 galaxies generally show deep Balmer absorption lines characteristic of A stars, and H beta emission suggestive of gas heated by O stars. A key question to our understanding of these galaxies is whether they really are S0 galaxies, or at least would have been recognized as S0 galaxies before the episode of central star formation began. Some of Nilson's classifications (used here) have been confirmed by Sandage or de Vaucouleurs and collaborators from better plates; some of the galaxies may be misclassified Sa galaxies (the most frequent hosts of central star formation); some are apparently difficult to classify because of mixed characteristics, faint non-S0 features, or peculiarities. More optical imaging is needed to characterize the host galaxies and to study the evolution of their star-forming regions.

Dressel, L. L.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Spectroscopic Characterization of redMaPPer Galaxy Clusters with DESI

Optical galaxy cluster identification algorithms such as redMaPPer promise to enable an array of astrophysical and cosmological studies, but suffer from biases whereby galaxies in front of and behind a galaxy cluster are mistakenly associated with the primary cluster halo. These projection effects caused by irreducible photometric redshift uncertainty must be quantified to facilitate the use of optical cluster catalogues. We present measurements of galaxy cluster projection effects and velocity dispersion using spectroscopy from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. Our findings are as follows: we confirm that the fraction of redMaPPer putative member galaxies mistakenly associated with cluster haloes is richness dependent, being more than twice as large at low richness than high richness; we present the first spectroscopic evidence of an increase in projection effects with increasing redshift, by as much as 25 per cent from $z\sim 0.1$ to $z\sim 0.2$; moreover, we find qualitative evidence for luminosity dependence in projection effects, with fainter galaxies being more commonly far behind clusters than their bright counterparts; finally, we fit the scaling relation between measured mean spectroscopic richness and velocity dispersion, finding an implied linear scaling between spectroscopic richness and halo mass. We discuss further directions for the application of spectroscopic data sets to improve use of optically selected clusters to test cosmological models.

clusters↗
NASA NTRS1992

Using arcs in clusters of galaxies as probes to cluster potentials and the faint blue galaxies

An extensive study of the statistical properties of highly magnified gravitational images of background galaxies produced by clusters of galaxies (generally known as arcs) is undertaken. After summarizing the results obtained from present observations (described in detail elsewhere), techniques are described for observations to improve upon these results, and to obtain further information on the potentials of the lensing clusters and the faint blue galaxies acting as sources. The most important information that can be obtained from the arcs is, with respect to the clusters, on the total density profile and the substructure at the small scales probed by the arcs, and, with respect to the background sources, on their angular sizes and redshifts.

Miralda-Escude, Jordi↗
DOE OSTI2024

Weak Gravitational Lensing around Low Surface Brightness Galaxies in the DES Year 3 Data

We present galaxy-galaxy lensing measurements using a sample of low surface brightness galaxies (LSBGs) drawn from the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (Y3) data as lenses. LSBGs are diffuse galaxies with a surface brightness dimmer than the ambient night sky. These dark-matter-dominated objects are intriguing due to potentially unusual formation channels that lead to their diffuse stellar component. Given the faintness of LSBGs, using standard observational techniques to characterize their total masses proves challenging. Weak gravitational lensing, which is less sensitive to the stellar component of galaxies, could be a promising avenue to estimate the masses of LSBGs. Our LSBG sample consists of 23,790 galaxies separated into red and blue color types at g - i ≥ 0.60 and g - i < 0.60 , respectively. Combined with the DES Y3 shear catalog, we measure the tangential shear around these LSBGs and find signal-to-noise ratios of 6.67 for the red sample, 2.17 for the blue sample, and 5.30 for the full sample. We use the clustering redshifts method to obtain redshift distributions for the red and blue LSBG samples. Assuming all red LSBGs are satellites, we fit a simple model to the measurements and estimate the host halo mass of these LSBGs to be log(M host /M ⊙ ) = $12.98^{+0.10}_{-0.11}$. We place a 95% upper bound on the subhalo mass at log(M sub /M ⊙ ) < 11.51. By contrast, we assume the blue LSBGs are centrals, and place a 95% upper bound on the halo mass at log(M host /M ⊙ ) < 11.84. We find that the stellar-to-halo mass ratio of the LSBG samples is consistent with that of the general galaxy population. This work illustrates the viability of using weak gravitational lensing to constrain the halo masses of LSBGs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Mass–metallicity and star formation rate in galaxies: A complex relation tuned to stellar age

In this work we study the stellar mass–metallicity relation (MZR) of an extended sample of star-forming galaxies in the local Universe and its possible dependence on the star formation rate (SFR). We selected a sample of approximately 195 000 Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) star-forming galaxies up to z = 0.22 with the aim of analysing the behaviour of the MZR with respect to SFR whilst taking into account the age of their stellar populations. For the first time, with this sample, we obtained aperture corrected oxygen and nitrogen-to-oxygen abundances (O/H and N/O, respectively) and SFR using the empirical prescriptions from the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey. To perform this study we also make use of the stellar mass of the galaxies and the parameter Dn(4000) as a proxy for the age of the stellar population. We derive a robust MZR locus, which is found to be fully consistent with the ‘anchoring’ points of a selected set of well-studied nearby galaxies for which the chemical abundance has been derived using the direct method. We observe a complex relation between MZR and SFR across the whole range of galaxy mass and metallicity, where the slope changes seen in the O/H–SFR plane present a pattern that seems to be tuned to the stellar age of the galaxies, and therefore stellar age has to be taken into account in the stellar mass–metallicity–SFR relation. In order to provide an answer to the question of whether or not the MZR depends on the SFR, it is essential to take into account the age of the stellar populations of galaxies. A strong dependence of the MZR on SFR is observed mainly for star-forming galaxies with strong SFR values and low D n (4000). The youngest galaxies of our SDSS sample show the highest SFR measured for their stellar mass.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Value-added catalog of physical properties for more than 1.3 million galaxies from the DESI survey

We present an extensive catalog of the physical properties of more than a million galaxies investigated with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), one of the largest spectroscopic surveys to date. Spanning a full range of target types, including emission-line galaxies, luminous red galaxies, and quasars, our survey encompasses an unprecedented range of spectroscopic redshifts, all the way from 0 to 6. The physical properties, such as stellar masses and star formation rates, were derived via the CIGALE spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting code accounting for the contribution coming from active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Based on the modeling of the optical-mid-infrared (grz supplemented with WISE photometry) SEDs, we studied the galaxy properties with respect to their location on the main sequence. We have revised the dependence of stellar mass estimates on model choices and on the availability of WISE photometry. Indeed, the WISE data are required to minimize the misclassification of star-forming galaxies as AGNs. The lack of WISE bands in SED fits leads to elevated AGN fractions for 68% of star-forming galaxies identified using emission line diagnostic diagrams, but this does not significantly affect their stellar mass or star formation estimates.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Beyond traditional diagnostics: Identifying active galactic nuclei using spectral energy distribution fitting in DESI data

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are typically identified through their distinctive X-ray or radio emissions, mid-infrared (MIR) colors, or emission lines. However, each method captures different subsets of AGN due to signal-to-noise (S/N) limitations, redshift coverage, and extinction effects, underscoring the necessity for a multiwavelength approach for comprehensive AGN samples. This study explores the effectiveness of spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting as a robust method for AGN identification. Using CIGALE optical-MIR SED fits on DESI Early Data Release galaxies, we compare SED-based AGN selection (AGNFRAC ≥ 0.1) with traditional methods including BPT diagrams, WISE colors, X-ray, and radio diagnostics. The SED fitting identifies ∼70% of narrow- and broad-line AGN and 87% of WISE-selected AGN. Incorporating high S/N WISE photometry reduces star-forming galaxy contamination from 62% to 15%. Initially, ∼50% of SED-AGN candidates are undetected by standard methods, but additional diagnostics classify ∼85% of these sources, revealing low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions and retired galaxies potentially representing evolved systems with weak AGN activity. Further spectroscopic and multiwavelength analysis will be essential to determine the true AGN nature of these sources. SED fitting provides complementary AGN identification, unifying multiwavelength AGN selections. This approach enables more complete – albeit somewhat contaminated – AGN samples, which are essential for upcoming large-scale surveys where spectroscopic diagnostics may be limited.

Seyfert↗
DOE OSTI2026

photoD with Rubin ’s Data Preview 1: First stellar photometric distances and faint blue star deficits

Aims. We investigate the utility of Rubin’s Data Preview 1 (DP1) for estimating stellar number density profiles across the Milky Way halo. Methods. We used stellar broad-band near-UV to near-IR ugrizy photometry released in Rubin’s DP1 to estimate distance and metallicity for blue main sequence stars brighter than r = 24 in three ~1.1 sq. deg. fields at southern Galactic latitudes. Results. Compared to TRILEGAL simulations of the Galaxy’s stellar content, we found a likely deficit of blue main sequence turn-off stars with 22 < r < 24. We interpreted this discrepancy as a signature of a steeper halo number density profile at galactocentric distances 10–50 kpc than the canonical ~1/r 3 profile assumed in TRILEGAL simulations. Conclusions. This interpretation is consistent with earlier suggestions based on observations of more luminous, but much less numerous, evolved stellar populations, along with a few pencil beam surveys of blue main sequence stars in the northern sky. These results bode well for the future Galactic halo exploration with Rubin’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).

Galaxy: fundamental parameters↗
DOE OSTI2023

iMaNGA: mock MaNGA galaxies based on IllustrisTNG and MaStar SSPs – II. The catalogue

ABSTRACT Strengthening the synergy between simulations and observations is essential to test galaxy formation and evolution theories. To achieve this goal, in the first paper of this series, we presented a method to generate mock SDSS-IV/Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) integral-field spectroscopic galaxy observations from cosmological simulations. In this second paper, we build the iMaNGA catalogue consisting of ∼1000 unique galaxies from the TNG50 cosmological simulations, selected to mimic the SDSS-IV/MaNGA-Primary sample selection. Here, we present and discuss the iMaNGA sample and its comparison to the MaNGA Primary catalogue. The iMaNGA sample well recovers the MaNGA-Primary sample in terms of stellar mass versus angular size relation and spatial resolution. The Sérsic index versus angular size relation, instead, is not reproduced well by the simulations, mostly because of a paucity of high-mass elliptical galaxies in TNG50. We also investigate our ability to recover the galaxy kinematics and stellar population properties with full-spectral fitting. We demonstrate that ‘intrinsic’ and ‘recovered’ stellar kinematics, stellar ages, and metallicities are consistent, with residuals compatible with zero within 1σ. Also ‘intrinsic’ and ‘recovered’ star formation histories display a great resemblance. We conclude that our mock generation and spectral fitting processes do not distort the ‘intrinsic’ galaxy properties. Therefore, in the third paper of this series, we can meaningfully test the cosmological simulations, comparing the stellar population properties and kinematics of the iMaNGA mock galaxies and the MaNGA observational results.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

The GMRT archive atomic gas survey – II. Mass modelling and dark matter halo properties across late-type spirals

Studying the kinematics and mass modelling of galaxies from H i 21 cm data provides valuable insights into the properties of both the baryonic components and the dark matter halo in nearby galaxies. Despite many observational studies, mass modelling of galaxies remains challenging due to different limitations. For example, most of the previous studies involving mass modelling are based on rotation curves derived from 2D velocity fields from H i or H α spectroscopic observation which are often affected by beam smearing and projection effect. However, kinematic modelling done by fitting the ‘Tilted ring model’ to 3D data cube is not affected by these issues. In this study, we present and compare 3D kinematic modelling of a pilot sample of 11 galaxies from the GMRT archive atomic gas survey (GARCIA) using two different publicly available pipelines. We model the observed H i rotation curve using 3.6-μm infrared data and SDSS r-band data for stellar contribution, H i surface density profile for gas, and Navarro–Frenk–White profile for dark matter halo; and employ the Markov chain Monte Carlo optimization method for parameter estimation. Further, to validate our analysis, we revisit important scaling relations, e.g. the M gas –M star relation, M star –M halo relation, M gas –M halo relation and Baryonic Tully–Fisher relation. Here, the scaling relations from our analysis are broadly consistent with that reported in the literature. A larger sample of galaxies from GARCIA in the near future will allow studying these scaling relations in greater details.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Empirically Driven multiwavelength K-c orrections at low redshift

K -corrections – a necessary ingredient for converting between flux in observed bands to flux in rest-frame bands – are critical for comparing galaxies at differing redshifts. These corrections often rely on fits to empirical or theoretical spectral energy distribution (SED) templates of galaxies. However, templates can only produce reliable K-corrections in regimes where SED models are robust. For instance, the templates utilized in some popular software packages are not well-constrained in some bands (e.g. WISE W4 in KCORRECT ), which results in ill-behaved K -corrections. We address this shortcoming by developing an empirically driven approach to K -corrections that limits the dependence on SED templates. We perform a polynomial fit for the K -correction as a function of a galaxy’s rest-frame colour determined in a pair of well-constrained bands (e.g. 0 (g − r)) and redshift, exploiting the fact that galaxy SEDs can be approximated as a one-parameter family at low redshift. For bands well-constrained by SED templates, our empirically driven K -corrections yield results comparable to the SED fitting methods used by KCORRECT and the GSWLC-M2 catalogue (the updated medium-deep GALEX–SDSS–WISE Legacy Catalogue). However, our method dramatically outperforms Kcorrect derived K -corrections for WISE W4 . Our method is also robust to incorrect template assumptions outside of the optical bands and enforces that the K -correction must be zero at z = 0. Our K -corrected photometry and code are publicly available.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

A comparison of the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation in MaNGA and IllustrisTNG

We compare an observed baryonic Tully–Fisher relation (BTFR) from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) and HI-MaNGA surveys to a simulated BTFR from the cosmological magnetohydrodynamical simulation, IllustrisTNG. To do so, we calibrate the BTFR of the local universe using 377 galaxies from the MaNGA and HI-MaNGA surveys, and perform mock 21 cm observations of matching galaxies from IllustrisTNG. The mock observations are used to ensure that the comparison with the observed galaxies is fair since it has identical measurement algorithms, observational limitations, biases, and uncertainties. For comparison, we also calculate the BTFR for the simulation without mock observations and demonstrate how mock observations are necessary to fairly and consistently compare between observational and theoretical data. We report a MaNGA BTFR of log$_{10} (M_{ \rm Bary}/M_\odot)= (2.97 \pm 0.18)$ log$_{10} V_{ \rm Rot} + (4.04 \pm 0.41)\, \log _{10}{M_{\odot }}$ and an IllustrisTNG BTFR of log$_{10} (M_{ \rm Bary}/M_\odot) = (2.94 \pm 0.23$) log$_{10} V_{ \rm Rot} + (4.15 \pm 0.44)\, \log _{10}{M_{\odot }}$. Thus, MaNGA and IllustrisTNG produce BTFRs that agree within uncertainties, demonstrating that IllustrisTNG has created a galaxy population that obeys the observed relationship between mass and rotation velocity in the observed universe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗