arXiv subjects

F. H. Briggs

Publications and source records attributed to F. H. Briggs.

36 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2001

Two New Low Redshift 21cm Absorbers

As part of a larger program to identify low redshift radio analogues of the damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) absorbers seen in the spectra of high redshift quasars, Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) observations have discovered two new HI 21cm absorption lines at z=0.394 and z=0.437 in the spectra of the radio sources B 0248+430 and B 1243-072 respectively. These sightlines and redshifts were selected for study on the basis of the previously known low ionization absorption lines of MgII, and neither has been observed in the Lyman-alpha line. The 21cm line observations provide information on column densities, temperatures and kinematics of the thickest cold neutral clouds in the absorbers.

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arXiv2001

The Luminosity Function and Surface Brightness Distribution of HI Selected Galaxies

We measure the z=0 B-band optical luminosity function (LF) for galaxies selected in a blind HI survey. The total LF of the HI selected sample is flat, with Schechter parameters M*=-19.38_{-0.62}^{+1.02} + 5 log h mag and alpha=-1.03_{-0.15}^{+0.25}, in good agreement with LFs of optically selected late-type galaxies. Bivariate distribution functions of several galaxy parameters show that the HI density in the local Universe is more widely spread over galaxies of different size, central surface brightness, and luminosity than is the optical luminosity density. The number density of very low surface brightness (>24.0 mag/arcsec^2) gas-rich galaxies is considerably lower than that found in optical surveys designed to detect dim galaxies. This suggests that only a part of the population of LSB galaxies is gas rich and that the rest must be gas poor. However, we show that this gas-poor population must be cosmologically insignificant in baryon content. The contribution of gas-rich LSB galaxies (>23.0 mag/arcsec^2) to the local cosmological gas and luminosity density is modest (18_{-5}^{+6} and 5_{-2}^{+2} per cent respectively); their contribution to Omega_matter is not well-determined, but probably < 11 per cent. These values are in excellent agreement with the low redshift results from the Hubble Deep Field.

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arXiv2001

Cold Gas Kinematics in an L* Spiral Galaxy at z=0.437: The Nature of Damped Lyman-alpha Absorbers

Westerbork Radio Synthesis Telescope observations of the redshifted 21cm line absorber against the z_em = 0.871 double lobed quasar 3C196 show that the intervening absorber is an L approximately equal L* spiral galaxy (3C196-G1) and that the absorbing layer of cold gas extends to radii of at least 30 h_50^-1 kpc. The new data solve several long standing puzzles about this system by (1) discovering a second 21cm absorption feature, corresponding to absorption against the NE lobe of the background radio source and (2) spatially ``resolving'' the two absorption features to isolate the absorption along the two lines of sight to the opposing radio lobes. These findings resolve the disagreement in redshift between the UV metal and 21cm lines, and as well as demonstrating that the neutral layer does absorb both lobes of the background radio source. Simple kinematic models with an inclined, rotating gas disk match the observed 21cm profile and are also compatible with both the redshift and velocity spread of the absorption measured in UV resonance lines along a third, independent line of sight to the quasar nucleus and with the lack of 21cm absorption in as earlier VLBI experiment that was sensitive to opacity against the hot spot in the northern lobe. The inferred rotation speed and luminosity for the galaxy are compatible with the z approximately 0 Tully-Fisher Relation. This system illustrates well how 21cm absorption against extended background radio sources is a powerful tool in determining the nature of the damped Lyman-alpha class of QSO absorption line system.

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arXiv2000

HI Observations of the starburst galaxy NGC 2146

NGC 2146 is a peculiar spiral galaxy which is currently undergoing a major burst of star formation and is immersed in a extended HI structure that has morphological and kinematical resemblence to a strong tidal interaction. This paper reports aperture synthesis observations carried out in the 21cm line with the Very Large Array (VLA - The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is operated by Associated Universities, Inc. under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.) of two fields positioned to optimally cover the HI streams to the north and south of the galaxy, along with a 300 ft total power spectral mapping program to recover the low surface brightness extended emission. The observations reveal elongated streams of neutral hydrogen towards both the north and the south of the optical galaxy extending out up to 6 Holmberg radii. The streams are not in the principle plane of rotation of the galaxy, but instead are suggestive of a tidal interaction between NGC 2146 and a LSB companion that was destroyed by the encounter and remains undetected at optical wavelengths. Part of the southern stream is turning back to fall into the main galaxy, where it will create a long-lived warp in the HI disk of NGC 2146. Analysis of the trajectory of the outlying gas suggests that the closest encounter took place about 0.8 billion years ago and that infall of debris will continue for a similar time span.

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arXiv2000

Removing radio interference from contaminated astronomical spectra using an independent reference signal and closure relations

The growing level of radio frequency interference (RFI) is a recognized problem for research in radio astronomy. This paper describes an intuitive but powerful RFI cancellation technique that is suitable for radio spectroscopy where time-averages are recorded. An RFI ``reference signal,'' is constructed from the cross power spectrum of the signals from the two polarizations of a reference horn pointed at the source of the RFI signal. The RFI signal paths obey simple phase and amplitude closure relations, which allows computation of the RFI contamination in the astronomical data and the corrections to be applied to the astronomical spectra. Since the method is immune to the effects of multipath scattering in both the astronomy and reference signal channels, ``clean copies'' of the RFI signal are not required. The method could be generalized (1) to interferometer arrays, (2) to correct for scattered solar radiation that causes spectral ``standing waves'' in single-dish spectroscopy, and (3) to pulsar survey and timing applications where a digital correlator plays an important role in broadband pulse dedispersion. Future large radio telescopes, such as the proposed LOFAR and SKA arrays, will require a high degree of RFI suppression and could implement the technique proposed here with the benefit of faster electronics, greater digital precision and higher data rates.

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arXiv2000

Cold gas, the HI 21cm line and evolving galactic potentials

Neutral hydrogen traces gravitational potentials. In the nearby universe, 21cm emission-line surveys show that the bulk of the HI resides in well-formed, optically-luminous galaxies. At high redshift, 21cm line absorption against background radio quasars occurs in gas-rich systems identified with the highest HI column densities -- the ``damped Lyman alpha'' quasar absorption-line systems. High spatial-resolution observations of the redshifted 21cm line absorbers measure sizes and kinematics of the neutral absorbers.

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arXiv2000

The Space Density of Primordial Gas Clouds near Galaxies and Groups and their Relation to Galactic HVCs

The Arecibo HI Strip Survey probed the halos of ~300 cataloged galaxies and the environments of ~14 groups with sensitivity to neutral hydrogen masses > 10^7 M_sun. The survey detected no objects with properties resembling the High Velocity Clouds (HVCs) associated with the Milky Way or Local Group. If the HVCs were typically M_HI=10^{7.5} M_sun objects distributed throughout groups and galaxy halos at distances of 1 Mpc, the survey should have made ~70 HVC detections in groups and ~250 detections around galaxies. The null detection implies that HVCs are deployed at typical distances of <200 kpc from the galaxies or group barycenters. If the clouds are in virial equilibrium, their average dark matter fraction must be 98% or higher.

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arXiv1999

Detection of Warm and Cold Phases of the Neutral ISM in a Damped Ly-alpha Absorber

We present a detailed study of the HI 21cm absorption system at z=0.0912 towards the radio quasar B0738+313. The uncommonly narrow main absorption line and weak secondary line are resolved for the first time. In addition we find it necessary to add a third, broader shallow component to obtain a good fit to the spectrum. Although the harmonic mean spin temperature calculated by comparison of the 21cm lines to the damped Ly-alpha line is T_s = 775 K, the thermal kinetic temperatures of the two narrow components, calculated from their widths, are much lower: T_k \leq 297 and \leq 103 K respectively. This is the first case of a redshifted absorption system for which T_k is measured to be less than T_s. We discuss this result in the context of a two phase gas model, in which the damped Ly-alpha gas is sensitive to a significant neutral column density of warm phase gas as well as the cold phase gas of the narrow 21cm lines. The third component is interpreted as representing the warm phase gas with with T_k \leq 5050 K. The combined column density of the three 21cm components is approximately equal to that derived from fits to the damped Ly-alpha line.

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arXiv1999

Prospects for solving basic questions in galaxy evolution with a next generation radio telescope

A Square Kilometer Array radio telescope will detect tens of thousands of galaxies per square degree in the 21cm emission line of neutral hydrogen. The telescope will be sensitive to ordinary galaxy populations at redshifts z>3 when the mass density in neutral gas greatly exceeded the mass in luminous stars. Spectroscopy in the HI line will trace the kinematics of evolving galactic potentials, as well as monitoring consumption of the fuel for star formation. The OH megamaser population may be a significant indicator of merger and interaction rates for galaxies over cosmic time. Spectroscopy of the redshifted HI and OH lines provides a major incentive for designing a large radio telescope with continuous frequency coverage below 2 GHz.

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arXiv1998

Selection Effects at 21cm

Surveys in the 21cm line of neutral hydrogen are testing the completeness of the catalogs of nearby galaxies. The remarkable observational fact is that the potential wells that confine gas to sufficient density that it can remain neutral in the face of ionizing radiation also provide sites for star formation, so that there are no known cases of neutral intergalactic clouds without associated star light.

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arXiv1998

Cosmologically distant OH megamasers: A test of the galaxy merging rate at Z approximately 2 and a contaminant of blind HI surveys in the 21cm line

Bright OH megamaser galaxies, radiating 1667/1665 MHz lines, could be detected at redshifts from z from 1 to 3 in moderate integration times with existing radio telescopes. The superluminous FIR galaxies that host the megamasers are relatively rare at z equal 0, but they may have been more common at high redshift, if the galaxy merger rate increases steeply with redshift. Therefore, blind radio spectroscopic surveys at frequencies of 400 to 1000 Mhz can form an independent test of the galaxy merger rate as a function of time over the redshift interval z = 4 to 0.7. The redshift range z = 0.17 to 0.4 will be difficult to survey for OH masers, since spectroscopic survey signals will be confused with HI emission from normal galaxies at redshifts less than 0.3. In fact, the signals from OH masers are likely to dominate over 21cm line emission from normal galaxies at frequencies below 1200 MHz (i.e. large redshifts z_HI > 0.18 and z_OH > 0.4). Surveyors of nearby galaxies in the 21cm line may find that OH masers form a contaminant to deep, blind HI surveys for redshift velocities less than a few hundred kilometers per second. At frequencies just above 1420 MHz, sensitive sky surveys might detect OH masers, which could be mistaken for a population of ``infalling, compact High Velocity Clouds'' but would ultimately be traced to luminous FIR background galaxies at z equal 0.17 once optical and IR follow-up has been performed.

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arXiv1998

Redshifted 21cm Line Absorption by Intervening Galaxies

The present generation of radio telescopes, combined with powerful new spectrometers, is opening a new age of redshifted radio absorption-line studies. Outfitting of arrays of antennas, such as the European VLBI Network and the upgraded VLA, with flexibly tuned receivers, will measure sizes and kinematics of intervening galaxies as a function of cosmic time.

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arXiv1997

Where are the Nearby Gas-Rich LSB Galaxies?

The Fisher-Tully `10 Mpc Catalog of Late-Type Galaxies' (FT, 1981) is remarkably complete. Despite the considerable effort that has been spent searching for and cataloging low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies, almost no new HI-rich galaxies have been added to the volume to which the FT observations were both sensitive (d < 10 (M_{HI}/10^{8.2} Msolar)^{5/12} Mpc) and intended to be complete (d < 10 Mpc). It has not yet been demonstrated by the new surveys that HI-rich LSB galaxies are not properly represented in this catalog of nearby galaxies. Although new optical surveys are discovering heretofore uncatalogued galaxies at greater distances than the depth of the FT Catalog, they do not alter the completeness of the FT Catalog for HI-rich LSB objects. Thus, unless the galaxy population of the local volume is atypical, there is at present no evidence for a significant, new population of gas-rich galaxies that has escaped recognition until now.

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arXiv1997

Estimation of the Space Density of Low Surface Brightness Galaxies

The space density of low surface brightness and tiny gas-rich dwarf galaxies are estimated for two recent catalogs: The Arecibo Survey of Northern Dwarf and Low Surface Brightness Galaxies (Schneider, Thuan, Magri & Wadiak 1990) and The Catalog of Low Surface Brightness Galaxy, List II (Schombert, Bothun, Schneider & McGaugh 1992). The goals are (1) to evaluate the additions to the completeness of the Fisher and Tully (1981) 10 Mpc Sample and (2) to estimate whether the density of galaxies contained in the new catalogs adds a significant amount of neutral gas mass to the the inventory of HI already identified in the nearby, present-epoch universe. Although tiny dwarf galaxies (M_HI < ~10^7 solar masses) may be the most abundant type of extragalactic stellar system in the nearby Universe, if the new catalogs are representative, the LSB and dwarf populations they contain make only a small addition (<10%) to the total HI content of the local Universe and probably constitute even smaller fractions of its luminous and dynamical mass.

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arXiv1997

Warm Neutral Gas at Redshift 3.4

Radio spectroscopy at 323 MHz using the Arecibo Telescope and the VLA has produced a tentative detection of the 21cm line of neutral hydrogen at Z_abs=3.38716+-0.00007 in absorption against the radio continuum of the QSO MG0201+113 (Z_em = 3.61). This redshift roughly agrees with one determined by the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope and reported earlier; however the observations at different telescopes produce different results for width and optical depth of the line. If the detection holds, it provides evidence for a high column density of neutral gas that is confined to a dynamically cold layer with velocity dispersion ~10 km/s. Although the interpretation is uncertain due to a lack of detailed knowledge of the extended radio structure of the background quasar and the relative quantities of neutral gas in the cold and turbulent components, the observations specify high spin temperatures, T_s > 1000 K for both this 21cm line absorbing cloud and the turbulent component, which together have N_HI ~ 10^21.4 cm^-2. Results of optical spectroscopy require the additional presence of metal-enriched clouds of still broader velocity dispersion than the 21cm line, creating a picture which is consistent with this system being a young disk galaxy that is sufficiently evolved by z=3.4 to have collapsed to a flattened system and produced a population of stars that have aged to pollute a turbulent halo. The observations constrain the neutral gas mass of a possible 21cm line emitter associated with the intervening absorber to be less than ~(Delta V/200 km/s) 10^13 Msolar for velocity widths Delta V (FWHM) in the range 200 to 1200 km/s (H_o=100 km/s/Mpc, Omega_o=1).

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arXiv1997

Local HI: Constraints on the evolution of the HI content of the Universe

Analyses of QSO absorption lines are showing that HI content has evolved over the redshift range z=5 to z= 0. The 21cm line measurements of the z=0 HI content avoid several biases inherent in the absorption line technique, such as the influence of evolving dust content in the absorbers, and will produce a reliable measure to anchor theories of galaxy evolution. Examples of important questions to be addressed by local HI surveys are: (1) is there a significant population of gas-rich galaxies or intergalactic clouds that are missing from the census of optically selected galaxies? (2) is there an adequate reservoir of neutral gas to substantially prolong star formation at its present rate? and (3) are there massive objects of such low HI column density that they can have escaped detection in the ``unbiased'' HI surveys that have been conducted so far?

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arXiv1997

Driftscan Surveys in the 21cm Line with the Arecibo and Nancay Telescopes

Driftscan methods are highly efficient, stable techniques for conducting extragalactic surveys in the 21cm line of neutral hydrogen. Holding the telescope still while the beam scans the sky at the sidereal rate produces exceptionally stable spectral baselines, increased stability for RFI signals, and excellent diagnostic information about system performance. Data can be processed naturally and efficiently by grouping long sequences of spectra into an image format, thereby allowing thousands of individual spectra to be calibrated, inspected and manipulated as a single data structure with standard tools that already exist in astronomical software. The behavior of spectral standing waves (multi-path effects) can be appraised and excised in this environment, making observations possible while the Sun is up. The method is illustrated with survey data from Arecibo and Nancay.

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arXiv1997

An HI selected sample of galaxies - The HI mass function and the surface brightness distribution

Results from the Arecibo HI Strip Survey, an unbiased extragalactic HI survey, combined with optical and 21cm follow-up observations, determine the HI Mass Function and the cosmological mass density of HI at the present epoch. Both are consistent with earlier estimates, computed for the population of optically selected galaxies. This consistency occurs because, although the distribution of optical central surface brightnesses among galaxies is flat, we fail to find a population of galaxies with central surface brightnesses fainter than 24 B-mag/arcsec^2, even though there is no observational selection against them.

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