arXiv subjects

Ayesha Begum

Publications and source records attributed to Ayesha Begum.

36 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

FIGGS: Faint Irregular Galaxies GMRT Survey - Overview, observations and first results

The Faint Irregular Galaxies GMRT Survey (FIGGS) is a Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) based HI imaging survey of a systematically selected sample of extremely faint nearby dwarf irregular galaxies. The primary goal of FIGGS is to provide a comprehensive and statistically robust characterization of the neutral inter-stellar medium properties of faint, gas rich dwarf galaxies. The FIGGS galaxies represent the extremely low-mass end of the dwarf irregular galaxies population, with a median M${\rm{_B\sim-13.0}}$ and median HI mass of $\sim 3 \times 10^7$ M$_\odot$, extending the baseline in mass and luminosity space for a comparative study of galaxy properties. The HI data is supplemented with observations at other wavelengths. In addition, distances accurate to ~ 10% are available for most of the sample galaxies. This paper gives an introduction to FIGGS, describe the GMRT observations and presents the first results from the HI observations. From the FIGGS data we confirm the trend of increasing HI to optical diameter ratio with decreasing optical luminosity; the median ratio of D$_{\rm HI}$/D$_{\rm Ho}$ for the FIGGS sample is 2.4. Further, on comparing our data with aperture synthesis surveys of bright spirals, we find at best marginal evidence for a decrease in average surface density with decreasing HI mass. To a good approximation the disks of gas rich galaxies, ranging over 3 orders of magnitude in HI mass, can be described as being drawn from a family with constant HI surface density.

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arXiv2008

Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation for Extremely Low Mass Galaxies

We study Tully-Fisher relations for a sample that combines extremely faint (M_B > -14.0) galaxies along with bright (i.e. L_*) galaxies. Accurate (~ 10%) distances, I band photometry, and B-V colors are known for the majority of the galaxies in our sample. The faint galaxies are drawn from the Faint Irregular Galaxy GMRT survey (FIGGS), and we have HI rotation velocities derived from aperture synthesis observations for all of them. For the faint galaxies, we find that even though the median HI and stellar masses are comparable, the HI mass correlates significantly better with the circular velocity indicators than the stellar mass. We also find that W$_{20}$ correlates better with mass than the rotation velocity, although the difference is not statistically significant. The faint galaxies lie systematically below the I band TF relation defined by bright galaxies, and also show significantly more intrinsic scatter. This implies that the integrated star formation in these galaxies has been both less efficient and also less regulated than in large galaxies. We find that while the faint end deviation is greatly reduced in Baryonic Tully-Fisher (BTF) relations, the existence of a break at the faint end of the BTF is subject to systematics such as the assumed stellar mass to light ratio. If we assume that there is an intrinsic BTF and try to determine the baryonic mass by searching for prescriptions that lead to the tightest BTF, we find that scaling the HI mass leads to a much more significant tightening than scaling the stellar mass to light ratio. The most significant tightening that we find however, is if we scale the entire baryonic mass of the faint (but not the bright) galaxies. Such a scenario would be consistent with models where dwarf (but not large) galaxies have a large fraction of dark or ``missing'' baryons (Slightly abridged)

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arXiv2007

The Local Group dwarf Leo T: HI on the brink of star formation

We present Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) and Westerbork ynthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) observations of the recently discovered Local Group dwarf galaxy, Leo T. The peak HI column density is measured to be 7x10^20 cm^-2, and the total HI mass is 2.8Xx10^5 Msun, based on a distance of 420 kpc. Leo T has both cold (~ 500 K) and warm (~ 6000 K) HI at its core, with a global velocity dispersion of 6.9 km/s, from which we derive a dynamical mass within the HI radius of 3.3x10^6 Msun, and a mass-to-light ratio of greater than 50. We calculate the Jeans mass from the radial profiles of the HI column density and velocity dispersion, and predict that the gas should be globally stable against star formation. This finding is inconsistent with the half light radius of Leo T, which extends to 170 pc, and indicates that local conditions must determine where star formation takes place. Leo T is not only the lowest luminosity galaxy with on-going star formation discovered to date, it is also the most dark matter dominated, gas-rich dwarf in the Local Group.

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arXiv2007

Gas rich galaxies from the FIGGS survey

The FIGGS (Faint Irregular Galaxy GMRT Survey) is aimed at creating a multi-wavelength observational data base for a volume limited sample of the faintest gas rich galaxies. In this paper we discuss two very gas rich galaxies that were observed as part of the FIGGS survey, viz. NGC 3741 and And IV. These galaxies are unusual in that they have extremely extended gas disks and very high ratios of dark to luminous matter. The very extended HI disks provide an unique opportunity to trace the extended distribution of dark matter around faint galaxies. We compare the baryon fraction of these galaxies with a sample of galaxies with well measured rotation curves and discuss whether extremely gas rich dwarf galaxies have abnormally small baryon fractions.

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arXiv2007

FIGGS: Faint Irregular Galaxies GMRT Survey

The Faint Irregular Galaxies GMRT Survey (FIGGS) is a large program aimed at providing a comprehensive and statistically robust characterisation of the neutral ISM properties of faint (M_B > -14.5), nearby, gas rich, dwarf irregular galaxies using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT). Here we briefly describe the survey and discuss some of the science that we anticipate can be done with this data set.

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arXiv2007

Life in the last lane: Star formation and chemical evolution in an extremely gas-rich dwarf

We present an analysis of HI, H-alpha, and oxygen abundance data for NGC 3741. This galaxy has a very extended gas disk (~8.8 times the Holmberg radius), and a dark to luminous (i.e. stellar) mass ratio of ~149, which makes it one of the ``darkest'' dwarf irregular galaxies known. However its ratio of baryons (i.e. gas + stellar) mass to dark mass is typical of that in galaxies. Our new high-resolution HI images of the galaxy show evidence for a large scale (purely gaseous) spiral arm and central bar. Despite the gaseous spiral feature and the on-going star formation, we find that the global gas density in NGC 3741 is significantly lower than the Toomre instability criterion. We also find that the star formation rate is consistent with that expected from the observed correlations between HI mass and SFR and the global Kennicutt-Schmidt law respectively. We measure the oxygen abundance to be 12+ log(O/H)=7.66$\pm$0.10, which is consistent with that expected from the metallicity-luminosity relation, despite its extreme gas mass ratio. We also examine the issue of chemical evolution of NGC 3741 in the context of closed-box model of chemical evolution. The effective oxygen yield of NGC 3741 is consistent with recent model estimates of closed-box yields, provided one assumes that the gas has been efficiently mixed all the way to edge of the HI disk (i.e. >8 times the optical radius). This seems a priori unlikely. On the other hand, using a sample of galaxies with both interferometric HI maps and chemical abundance measurements, we find that the effective yield is anti-correlated with the total dynamical mass, as expected in leaky box models (slightly abridged).

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arXiv2007

HI power spectrum of the spiral galaxy NGC628

We have measured the HI power spectrum of the nearly face-on spiral galaxy NGC628 (M74) using a visibility based estimator. The power spectrum is well fitted by a power law $P(U)=AU^α$, with $α=- 1.6\pm0.2$ over the length scale $800 {\rm pc} {\rm to} 8 {\rm kpc}$. The slope is found to be independent of the width of the velocity channel. This value of the slope is a little more than one in excess of what has been seen at considerably smaller length scales in the Milky-Way, Small Magellanic Cloud (LMC), Large Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and the dwarf galaxy DDO210. We interpret this difference as indicating a transition from three dimensional turbulence at small scales to two dimensional turbulence in the plane of the galaxy's disk at length scales larger than galaxy's HI scale height. The slope measured here is similar to that found at large scales in the LMC. Our analysis also places an upper limit to the galaxy's scale height at $800\ {\rm pc}$ .

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arXiv2006

Power spectrum of HI intensity fluctuations in DDO 210

We measure the power spectrum of HI intensity fluctuations in the extremely faint (M_B ~ -10.9) dwarf galaxy DDO 210 using a visibility based estimator that is well suited in very low signal to noise ratio regimes. DDO 210's HI power spectrum is well fit by a power law $P_HI(U)= A U^α$ with $α=-2.75 \pm0.45$ over the length-scales 80 pc to 500 pc. We also find that the power spectrum does not change with an increase in the velocity channel width, indicating that the measured fluctuations correspond mainly to density fluctuations. However, Kolmogorov turbulence (with a velocity structure function spectral slope of 2/3) cannot be ruled out from the present observations. The value of the slope $α$ is similar to that obtained in the Milkyway. In contrast to the Milkyway, DDO 210 has three orders of magnitude less HI, no spiral arms, and also no measurable ongoing star formation. The fact that the power spectrum slope is nonetheless similar in these two galaxies (and also similar to the values measured for the LMC and SMC) suggests that there is some universal, star formation independent, phenomenon responsible for producing fine scale structure in the gas.

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arXiv2005

Gas distribution, kinematics and star formation in faint dwarf galaxies

We compare the gas distribution, kinematics and the current star formation in a sample of 10 very faint (-13.37 < M_B < -9.55) dwarf galaxies. For 5 of these galaxies we present fresh, high sensitivity, GMRT HI 21cm observations. For all our galaxies we construct maps of the HI column density at a constant linear resolution of ~300 pc; this forms an excellent data set to check for the presence of a threshold column density for star formation. We find that while current star formation (as traced by Halpha emission) is confined to regions with relatively large (N_HI > (0.4 -1.7) X 10^{21} atoms cm^{-2}) HI column density, the morphology of the Halpha emission is in general not correlated with that of the high HI column density gas. Thus, while high column density gas may be necessary for star formation, in this sample at least, it is not sufficient to ensure that star formation does in fact occur. We examine the line profiles of the HI emission, but do not find a simple relation between regions with complex line profiles and those with on-going star formation. Finally, we examine the very fine scale (~20-100 pc) distribution of the HI gas, and find that at these scales the emission exhibits a variety of shell like, clumpy and filamentary features. The Halpha emission is sometimes associated with high density HI clumps, sometimes the Halpha emission lies inside a high density shell, and sometimes there is no correspondence between the Halpha emission and the HI clumps. In summary, the interplay between star formation and gas density in these galaxy does not seem to show the simple large scale patterns observed in brighter galaxies (abridged).

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arXiv2005

A search for HI in some peculiar faint dwarf galaxies

We present a deep Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) search for HI 21 cm emission from three dwarf galaxies, viz. POX 186, SC 24 and KKR 25. Based, in part, on previous single dish HI observations, these galaxies have been classified as a BCD, a dwarf irregular and a transition galaxy respectively. However, in conflict with previous single dish detections, we do not detect HI in SC 24 or KKR 25. We suggest that the previous single dish measurements were probably confused with the local galactic emission. In the case of POX 186, we confirm the previous non detection of HI but with substantially improved limits on its HI mass. Our derived upper limits on the HI mass of SC 24 and KKR 25 are similar to the typical HI mass limit for dwarf spheroidal galaxies, whereas in the case of POX 186, we find that its gas content is somewhat smaller than is typical of BCD galaxies.

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arXiv2005

Resolving the mystery of the dwarf galaxy HIZSS003

The nearby galaxy HIZSS003 was recently discovered during a blind HI survey of the zone of avoidance (Henning et al. 2000). Follow up VLA as well as optical and near-IR imaging and spectroscopy (Massey et al. 2003; Silva et al. 2005) confirm that it is a low metallicity dwarf irregular galaxy. However there were two puzzling aspects of the observations, (i) current star formation, as traced by H$α$ emission, is confined to a small region at the edge of the VLA HI image and (ii) the metallicity of the older RGB stars is higher than that of the gas in HII region. We present high spatial and velocity resolution Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) observations that resolve these puzzles by showing that HIZSS003 is actually a galaxy pair and that the HII region lies at the center of a much smaller companion galaxy (HIZSS003B) to the main galaxy (HIZSS003A). The HI emission from these two galaxies overlaps in projection, but can be separated in velocity space. HIZSS003B has an HI mass of 2.6 X 10^6 M$_\odot$, and a highly disturbed velocity field. Since the velocity field is disturbed, an accurate rotation curve cannot be derived, however, the indicative dynamical mass is ~5 X 10^7 M$_\odot$. For the bigger galaxy HIZSS003A we derive an HI mass of 1.4 X 10^7 M$_\odot$. The velocity field of this galaxy is quite regular and from its rotation curve we derive a total dynamical mass of ~6.5 X 10^8 M$_\odot$.

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arXiv2005

A dwarf galaxy with a giant HI disk

We present Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) HI 21cm images of a nearby dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 3741 (M_B ~ -13.13 mag) which show it to have a gas disk that extends to ~ 8.3 times its Holmberg radius. This makes it probably the most extended gas disk known. Our observations allow us to derive the rotation curve (which is flat in the outer regions) out to ~ 38 optical scale lengths. NGC 3741 has a dynamical mass to light ratio of ~ 107 and is one of the ``darkest'' irregular galaxies known. However, the bulk of the baryonic mass in NGC 3741 is in the form of gas and the ratio of the dynamic mass to the baryonic mass (~ 8), falls within the range that is typical for galaxies. Thus the dark matter halo of NGC 3741 has acquired its fair share of baryons, but for some reason, these baryons have been unable to collapse to form stars. A comparison of NGC 3741's dark halo properties with those of a sample of galaxies with well measured rotation curves suggests that if one has to reconcile the observations with the expectation that low mass galaxies suffer fractionally greater baryon loss then baryon loss from halos occurs in such a way that, in the net, the remaining baryons occupy a fractionally smaller volume of the total halo.

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arXiv2004

The GMRT study of extremely faint dwarf irregular galaxies

We present results of deep, high velocity resolution ($\sim$1.6 kms$^{-1}$) Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) HI 21 cm-line observations of a sample of extremely faint (M$_B>-$12.5) dwarf irregular galaxies. Unlike previous studies, we find large scale velocity gradients in even the faintest galaxies of our sample i.e. their velocity fields are not "chaotic". For some of our sample galaxies, where the velocity fields are in fact completely consistent with ordered rotation, we derive rotation curves and determine the structure of the dark matter halos of the galaxies from mass modeling, using the "asymmetric drift" corrected rotation velocities. Finally, we compile from literature a sample of galaxies with known dark matter distribution, estimated from HI synthesis observations, and discuss the results and their implications for hierarchical galaxy formation models.

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arXiv2004

Kinematics of two dwarf galaxies in the NGC 6946 group

We present high velocity resolution (~ 1.6 km/s) Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) HI 21 cm synthesis images of the dwarf galaxies KK98 250 and KK98 251, as well as optical broad band images of KK98 250. We find that, despite being faint (M_B <-14), both galaxies have regular velocity fields. In both cases the velocity fields are consistent with rigid body rotation. We derive rotation curves for the galaxies and fit mass models to them. For both galaxies, we find acceptable fits using isothermal halos while NFW halos provide a poor fit. Finally, we compile from literature a sample of galaxies with HI synthesis observations and I band magnitudes. From this sample we find, in agreement with earlier studies (which used single dish HI data), that dwarf galaxies tend to lie below the I band Tully-Fisher relation defined by brighter galaxies.

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arXiv2003

Kinematics of the dwarf irregular galaxy GR8

We present deep, high velocity resolution (~1.6 km/s) Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope HI 21cm synthesis images for the faint (M_B ~ -12.1) dwarf irregular galaxy GR8. We find that the velocity field of the galaxy shows a clear systematic large scale pattern, with a maximum amplitude ~10 km/s. Neither pure rotation, nor pure radial motion alone can fit the observed velocity field; however a combination of radial and circular motions can provide a reasonable fit. The most natural interpretation is that the neutral ISM, in addition to rotating about the center, is also expanding outwards, as a result of energy input from the ongoing star formation in the galaxy. Support for this interpretation comes from the fact that the pressure in the HII regions in the galaxy is known to be substantially (~55 times) more than the average pressure in the gas disk. It is, however, also possible that the velocity field is the result of the gas swirling inwards, in which case GR8 could be in the process of formation via the merger of subgalactic clumps.

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arXiv2003

Kinematics of Extremely Faint Dwarf Galaxies

We present the results of deep, high velocity resolution (~1.6 km/s) Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) HI 21cm observations of extremely faint (M_B > -12.5) dwarf irregular galaxies. We find that all of our sample galaxies show systematic large scale velocity gradients, unlike earlier studies which found chaotic velocity fields for such faint galaxies. For some of the sample galaxies the velocity fields are completely consistent with ordered rotation, though the peak circular velocities are comparable to the observed random motions. These are the faintest known galaxies with such regular kinematics. We present ("asymmetric drift" corrected) rotation curves and mass models (including fits for Isothermal and NFW halos) for some of these galaxies and discuss the implications for hierarchical models of galaxy formation.

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arXiv2003

Kinematics of the faintest gas rich galaxy in the Local Group: DDO210

We present deep, high velocity resolution (~1.6 km/s) Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) HI 21cm synthesis images of the faint (M_B ~ -10.6) local group dwarf galaxy DDO210. We find that the HI distribution in the galaxy is not axi-symmetric, but shows density enhancements in the eastern and southern halves of the galaxy. The optical emission is lopsided with respect to the HI, most of the bright optical emission arises from the eastern half of the HI disk. The velocity field of the galaxy is however quite regular and shows a systematic large scale pattern, consistent with the rotational motion. The rotation curve for the galaxy shows a peak (inclination corrected) rotation velocity of only ~8 km/s, comparable to the random motions in the HI gas. After correcting for the dynamical support provided by random motions (the ``asymmetric drift'' correction), we find the corrected peak rotation velocity of ~16.0 km/s. Mass modeling of the corrected rotation curve shows that the kinematics of DDO210 can be well fit with either a modified isothermal halo (with a central density rho_0 ~ 29 X 10^{-3} M_\odot pc^{-3} for a stellar mass to light ratio of 3.4) or an NFW halo. In the case of the NFW halo however, a good fit is obtained for a wide range of parameters; the halo parameters could not be uniquely determined from the fit. Density profiles with inner slope steeper than ~1.2 however provide a poor fit to the data. Finally, the rotation curve derived using MOND also provides a reasonable fit to the observed rotation curve.

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arXiv2003

The little galaxy that could: Kinematics of Camelopardalis B

We present deep, high velocity resolution (1.6 km/s) GMRT HI as well as optical data for the faint (M_B ~ -10.9) galaxy Camelopardalis B. We find that the HI in the galaxy has a regular velocity field, consistent with rotational motion. The implied kinematical major axis is well aligned with the major axis of both the HI and optical images. Cam B is the faintest known galaxy with such relatively well behaved kinematics. From the HI velocity field we derive a rotation curve for the galaxy. The peak (inclination corrected) rotation velocity is only 7km/s, comparable to the observed velocity dispersion. After correcting the observed rotation velocities for random motions (the "asymmetric drift" correction) we find a corrected peak rotation velocity of ~ 20 km/s. On fitting mass models to corrected rotation curve we find that the kinematics of Cam B is well fit with a modified isothermal halo with central density $ρ_0$ approximately 12.0 $M_\odot$ pc$ ^{-3}$. This derived central density has only a very weak dependence on the assumed M/L ratio of the stellar disk. We also find that the corrected rotation curve cannot be fit with an NFW halo regardless of the assumed M/L ratio. We compile from the literature a sample of galaxies with rotation curves obtained from HI synthesis observations. From this sample (which has an absolute magnitude range of ~ 12) we find (i) that Cam B lies on the Tully-Fisher relation defined by these galaxies, provided we use the corrected rotation velocity, and (ii) a weak trend for increasing halo central density with decreasing galaxy size. Such a trend is expected in hierarchical models of halo formation.

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