arXiv subjects

Benjamin J. Weiner

Publications and source records attributed to Benjamin J. Weiner.

116 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2003

The DEEP Groth Strip Survey XII: The Metallicity of Field Galaxies at 0.26<z<0.82 and the Evolution of the Luminosity-Metallicity Relation

Using spectroscopic data from the Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe (DEEP) Groth Strip survey (DGSS), we analyze the gas-phase oxygen abundances for 56 emission-line field galaxies in the redshift range 0.26<z<0.82. Oxygen abundances relative to hydrogen range between 8.4<12+log(O/H)<9.0 with typical uncertainties of 0.17 dex. The 56 DGSS galaxies collectively exhibit a correlation between B-band luminosity and metallicity, i.e., an L-Z relation. Subsets of DGSS galaxies binned by redshift also exhibit L-Z correlations but with different zero points. Galaxies in the highest redshift bin (z=0.6-0.82) are brighter by ~1 mag compared to the lowest redshift bin (z=0.26-0.40) and brighter by ~1-2 mag compared to local (z<0.1) field galaxies. This offset from the local L-Z relation is greatest for objects at the low-luminosity (M_B ~ -19) end of the sample, and vanishingly small for objects at the high-luminosity end of the sample (M_B ~ -22). Thus, both the slope and zero point of the L-Z relation appear to evolve. Either the least-luminous DGSS field galaxies have faded by 1--2 mag due to decreasing levels of star formation, or they have experienced an increase in the mean metallicity of the interstellar medium by factors of 1.3--2 (0.1-0.3 dex). The relatively greater degree of luminosity and metallicity evolution seen among the lower luminosity (sub L*) galaxies in the last 8 Gyr implies either a more protracted assembly process, or a more recent formation epoch compared to more luminous L* galaxies. (abridged)

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

The DEEP Groth Strip Survey II. Hubble Space Telescope Structural Parameters of Galaxies in the Groth Strip

The quantitative morphological classification of distant galaxies is essential to the understanding of the evolution of galaxies over the history of the Universe. This paper presents Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 F606W and F814W photometric structural parameters for 7450 galaxies in the ``Groth Strip.'' These parameters are based on a two-dimensional bulge+disk surface brightness model and were obtained using an automated reduction and analysis pipeline described in detail here. A first set of fits was performed separately in each bandpass, and a second set of fits was performed simultaneously on both bandpasses. The information produced by these two types of fits can be used to explore different science goals. Systematic and random fitting errors in all structural parameters as well as bulge and disk colors are carefully characterized through extensive sets of simulations. The results of these simulations are given in catalogs similar to the real science catalogs so that both real and simulated measurements can be sampled according to the same selection criteria to show biases and errors in the science data subset of interest. The effects of asymmetric structures on the recovered bulge+disk fitting parameters are also explored through simulations. The full multidimensional photometric survey selection function of the Groth Strip is also computed. This selection function, coupled to bias maps from simulations, provides a complete and objective reproduction of the observational limits, and these limits can be applied to theoretical predictions from galaxy evolution models for direct comparisons with the data.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2001

Optical emission from high velocity clouds and the ionization sources in the Galactic halo

Optical emission lines have now been detected from about 20 high velocity clouds. These emission lines -- primarily H-alpha, secondarily [N II] and [S II] -- are very faint and diffuse, spread over the surfaces of the clouds. We compile emission line measurements and present a model in which the H-alpha is recombination caused by photoionizing radiation escaping the Milky Way. In such a model, we infer HVC distances of 5--30 kpc. The photoionization model fails to explain the relatively strong H-alpha emission from the Magellanic Stream, and the O VI absorption seen by FUSE in HVCs and the MS, which require a second source of ionization (likely collisional). Regardless of mechanism, the fact that HVCs are detectable in H-alpha indicates they are not far away enough to be Local Group objects. Adopting the HVC distances from the model, there appear to be two classes of HVCs: H-alpha-bright clouds with low velocity deviations from Galactic rotation, and often strong [N II], which are presumably affiliated with the Galactic disk; and H-alpha-faint clouds with high velocity deviations, which are likely to be infalling gas.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2000

Distance Constraints for High Velocity Clouds from Optical Emission Lines

We report results from a survey of high velocity clouds and the Magellanic Stream for faint, diffuse optical recombination emission lines. We detect H-alpha emission with surface brightness from 41 to 1680 milli-Rayleighs (mR) from HVCs, and from <40 to 1360 mR in the MS. A simple model for the photoionizing radiation emergent from the Galaxy, normalized to the HVCs A and M with known distances, predicts distances from a few to 40 kpc, placing the faintest HVCs in the Galactic halo, too far away for a Galactic fountain. This model cannot explain the bright and spatially varying H-alpha in the Magellanic Stream, which requires another source of ionization. However, we do not find any HVCs super-faint in H-alpha; even with another ionization source, we conclude that the detected HVCs are not more than 2--4 times the distance of the MS (100-200 kpc).

astro-ph↗

arXiv2000

The Disk and Dark Halo Mass of the Barred Galaxy NGC 4123. I. Observations

The non-circular streaming motions in barred galaxies are sensitive to the mass of the bar and can be used to lift the degeneracy between disk and dark matter halo encountered when fitting axisymmetric rotation curves of disk galaxies. In this paper, we present photometric and kinematic observations of NGC 4123, a barred galaxy of modest size (V_rot = 130 km/sec, L = 0.7 L_*), which reveal strong non-circular motions. The bar has straight dust lanes and an inner Lindblad resonance. The disk of NGC 4123 has no sign of truncation out to 10 scale lengths, and star-forming regions are found well outside R_25. A Fabry-Perot H-alpha velocity field shows velocity jumps of >100 km/sec at the location of the dust lanes within the bar, indicating shocks in the gas flow. VLA observations yield the velocity field of the H I disk. Axisymmetric mass models yield good fits to the rotation curve outside the bar regionfor disk I-band M/L of 2.25 or less, and dark halos with either isothermal or power-law profiles can fit the data well. In a companion paper, we model the full 2-D velocity field, including non-circular motions, to determine the stellar M/L and the mass of the dark halo.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2000

The Disk and Dark Halo Mass of the Barred Galaxy NGC 4123. II. Fluid-Dynamical Models

We report a dynamical determination of the separate contributions of disk and dark halo masses to the rotation curve of a spiral galaxy. We use fluid-dynamical models of gas flow in the barred galaxy NGC 4123 to constrain the dynamical properties of the galaxy: disk M/L, bar pattern speed, and the central density and scale radius of the dark halo. We derive a realistic barred potential directly from the light distribution. For each model we assume a value of the stellar M/L and a bar pattern speed Omega_p and add a dark halo to fit the rotation curve. We then compute the gas flow velocities with a 2-D gas dynamical code, and compare the model flow patterns to a 2-D velocity field derived from Fabry-Perot observations. The strong shocks and non-circular motions in the observed gas flow require a high stellar M/L and a fast-rotating bar. Models with I-band disk M/L of 2.0 -- 2.5 h_75, or 80 -- 100% of the maximum disk value, are highly favored. The corotation radius of the bar must be <= 1.5 times the bar semi-major axis. These results contradict some recent claimed ``universal'' galaxy disk/halo relations, since NGC 4123 is of modest size (rotation curve maximum 145 km/sec, and V_flat = 130 km/sec) yet is quite disk-dominated. The dark halo of NGC 4123 is less concentrated than favored by current models of dark halos based on cosmological simulations. Since some 30% of bright disk galaxies are strongly barred and have dust lanes indicating shock morphology similar to that of NGC 4123, it is likely that they also have high stellar M/L and low density halos. We suggest that luminous matter dominates inside the optical radius R_25 of high surface brightness disk galaxies.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1999

The properties of the Galactic bar implied by gas kinematics in the inner Milky Way

Longitude-velocity (l-V) diagrams of H I and CO gas in the inner Milky Way have long been known to be inconsistent with circular motion in an axisymmetric potential. Several lines of evidence suggest that the Galaxy is barred, and gas flow in a barred potential could be consistent with the observed ``forbidden'' velocities and other features in the data. We compare the H I observations to l-V diagrams synthesized from 2-D fluid dynamical simulations of gas flows in a family of barred potentials. The gas flow pattern is very sensitive to the parameters of the assumed potential, which allows us to discriminate among models. We present a model that reproduces the outer contour of the H I l-V diagram reasonably well; this model has a strong bar with a semimajor axis of 3.6 kpc, an axis ratio of approximately 3:1, an inner Lindblad resonance (ILR), and a pattern speed of 42 km/s/kpc, and matches the data best when viewed from 34°to the bar major axis. The behavior of the models, combined with the constraint that the shocks in the Milky Way bar should resemble those in external barred galaxies, leads us to conclude that wide ranges of parameter space are incompatible with the observations. In particular we suggest that the bar must be fairly strong, must have an ILR, and cannot be too end-on, with the bar major axis at 35°+/- 5°to the line of sight. The H I data exhibit larger forbidden velocities over a wider longitude range than are seen in molecular gas; this important difference is the reason our favored model differs so significantly from other recently proposed models.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1995

Detection of H-alpha emission from the Magellanic Stream: evidence for an extended gaseous Galactic halo

We have detected faint, diffuse H$αemission from several points along the Magellanic Stream, using the Rutgers Fabry--Perot Interferometer at the CTIO 1.5-m telescope. At points on the leading edges of the H I clouds MS II, MS III, and MS IV, we detect H$αemission of surface brightness $0.37 \pm 0.02$ Rayleighs, $0.21 \pm 0.04$ R, and $0.20 \pm 0.02$ R respectively, corresponding to emission measures of 1.0 to 0.5 \cmsixpc. We have observed several positions near the MS IV concentration, and find that the strongest emission is on the sharp leading-edge density gradient. There is less emission at points away from the gradient, and halfway between MS III and MS IV the H$αsurface brightness is $< 0.04$ R. We attribute the H$αemission at cloud leading edges to heating of the Stream clouds by ram pressure from ionized gas in the halo of the Galaxy. These observations suggest that ram pressure from halo gas plays a large role in stripping the Stream out of the Magellanic Clouds. They also suggest the presence of a relatively large density of gas, $n_{\rm H} \sim 10^{-4} cm^{-3}$, in the Galactic halo at $\sim 50$ kpc radius, and far above the Galactic plane, $b \sim -80°$. This implies that the Galaxy has a very large baryonic, gaseous extent, and supports models of Lyman-$αand metal-line QSO absorption lines in which the absorption systems reside in extended galactic halos.

astro-ph↗