arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Francoise Combes.
Formation scenarios for polar ring galaxies are studied through N-body simulatio ns that are compared with existing observations. It is shown that polar rings ar e likely to be formed by tidal accretion of the polar material from a gas rich d onor galaxy. The distribution of dark matter in polar ring galaxies is studied: dark halos seem to be flattened towards the polar rings.
The distribution of gravitational torques and bar strengths in the local Universe is derived from a detailed study of 163 galaxies observed in the near-infrared. The results are compared with numerical models for spiral galaxy evolution. It is found that the observed distribution of torques can be accounted for only with external accretion of gas onto spiral disks. Accretion is responsible for bar renewal - after the dissolution of primordial bars - as well as the maintenance of spiral structures. Models of isolated, non-accreting galaxies are ruled out. Moderate accretion rates do not explain the observational results: it is shown that galactic disks should double their mass in less than the Hubble time. The best fit is obtained if spiral galaxies are open systems, still forming today by continuous gas accretion, doubling their mass every 10 billion years.
The submillimeter and millimeter domains are privileged for the exploration of galaxies at high redshift, because of the negative K-correction: the peak of the dust emission at 60-100 microns is red-shifted in these domains. Already blind surveys in blank fields with today instrumentation have discovered in the continuum of the order of one object per square arcmin, with large limitations due to confusion. In the molecular lines, the K-correction is not so favorable, and it has been until now difficult to detect the objects, except when they are starbursting monsters, or gravitationally lensed (about a dozen galaxies have been detected). ALMA will bring more than one order of magnitude improvement, and will not be affected by confusion. Normal star-forming objects will be detected, and in particular those enshrouded in dust, so the instrument will be complementary to the optical ones, such as NGST or ELTs.
We present an N-body computer code - aimed at studies of galactic dynamics - with a CPU-efficient algorithm for a continuous (i.e. time-dependent) stellar mass-loss. First, we summarize available data on stellar mass-loss and derive the long-term (20 Gyr) dependence of mass-loss rate of a coeval stellar population. We then implement it, through a simple parametric form, into a particle-mesh code with stellar and gaseous particles. We perform several tests of the algorithm reliability and show an illustrative application: a 2D simulation of a disk galaxy, starting as purely stellar but evolving as two-component due to gradual mass-loss from initial stars and due to star formation. In a subsequent paper we will use the code to study what changes are induced in galactic disks by the continuous gas recycling compared to the instantaneous recycling approximation, especially the changes in star formation rate and radial inflow of matter.
The strongest starbursts are observed towards galaxy nuclei, or circumnuclear regions. However in interacting galaxies, star formation is also triggered in overlap regions far from nuclei, in spiral arms and sometimes in tidal tails. What is the relative importance of these starbursts? What kind of starformation is dominating, as a function of redshift? These different starbursts occur in different dynamical conditions (global and local): gravitational instabilities, density waves, radial flows, shear, cloud collisions, density accumulations, and they have been investigated with the help of numerical simulations. Gravitational instabilities are necessary to initiate star formation, but they are not sufficient; galactic disks are self-regulated through these instabilities to have their Toomre Q parameter of the order of 1, and thus this criterium is in practice unable to predict the onset of intense star formation. Super star clusters are a characteristic SF mode in starbursts, and might be due to the rapid formation of large gas complexes. Star formation can propagate radially inwards, due to gravity torques and gas inflow, but also outwards, due to superwinds, and energy outflows: both expanding or collapsing waves are observed in circumnuclear regions. Mergers are more efficient in forming stars at high redshift, because of larger gas content, and shorter dynamical times. The relation between nuclear starbursts and nuclear activity is based on the same fueling mechanisms, but also on reciprocal triggering and regulations.
We present our study of the 2-D structures of the tidal tails associated with 20 galactic globular clusters, structures obtained by using the wavelet transform to detect weak structures at large scale and filter the strong background noise for the low galactic latitude clusters (Leon, Meylan & Combes 2000). We also present N-body simulations of globular clusters, in orbits around the Galaxy, in order to study quantitatively and geometrically the tidal effects they encounter (Combes, Leon & Meylan 2000).
As a result of our statistical study of 540 edge-on galaxies, we present here the images and preliminary statistical analysis of a sub-sample of 60 galaxies, that were selected to be S-type warped spirals. Computing the average volumic density of galaxies from available redshift surveys, a first analysis suggests that warped galaxies are found in denser environments. Only the clearest and strongest warps have been extracted here, and therefore this sample of 60 objects gather the best candidates for future HI or optical works on galaxy warps.
We present a statistical study of optical warps in a sample of 540 galaxies, about five times larger than previous samples. About 40% of all late-type galaxies reveal S-shaped warping of their planes in the outer parts. Given the geometrical parameters and detection sensitivity, this result suggests that at least half of all galaxy disks might be warped. We demonstrate through geometrical simulations that some apparent warps could be due to spiral arms in a highly inclined galaxy. The simulations of non warped galaxies give an amount of false warps of $\approx$ 15%, while simulations of warped galaxies suggest that no more than 20% of the warps are missed. We find a strong positive correlation of observed warps with environment, suggesting that tidal interaction have a large influence in creating or re-enforcing warped deformations.
In the interstellar medium, as well as in the Universe, large density fluctuations are observed, that obey power-law density distributions and correlation functions. These structures are hierarchical, chaotic, turbulent, but are also self-organizing. The apparent disorder is not random noise, but can be described by a fractal, with a deterministic fractal dimension. We discuss the theories advanced to describe these fractal structures, and in particular a new theory of the self-gravity thermodynamics, that could explain their existence, and predict their fractal dimension. The media obeying scaling laws can be considered critical, as in second order phase transitions for instance.
The four known molecular absorption line systems at redshifts z$=$0.25--0.89 are discussed. Two of the systems originate in the galaxy hosting the `background' AGN, while in two cases the absorption occurs in truely intervening galaxies. Indirect evidence for the existence of very small scale structure in the molecular ISM is presented. A new absorption line at z$=$0.89 towards PKS1830--211 opens up interesting possibilities to accurately derive the mass of the lensing galaxy.
New millimeter wave observations of the molecular absorption line system in the gravitational lens to PKS1830-211 at z=0.88582 is presented. Self-calibrated interferometer data shows unequivocally that the previously detected absorption component is associated with the gravitationally lensed south-west image of the background source. A second absorption line of HCO+(2-1) at z=0.88582 is detected. This component is shifted in velocity by -147 km/s relative to the main absorption line, and is shown to be associated with the north-east image. These two absorption lines are used to constrain the mass of the lensing galaxy. Upper limits to absorption and emission lines from the possible absorption system at z=0.1927, seen in 21cm HI by Lovell et al, are reported.
A detailed study of the absorbing molecular clouds towards the radio source PKS1413+135, at a redshift z=0.247, is reported. Physical conditions are derived for the molecular gas in the frame work of two models: a homogeneous multicomponent model with equal filling factors, and a two-phase medium consisting of dense clumps embedded in a more diffuse component. Our absorption data are consistent with the presence of a diffuse gas component, dominating the observed opacity, and a dense component, accounting for most of the mass. We show that without knowledge of the small scale structure of the absorbing molecular gas, we can only derive lower limits to the column density. We find that the opacity ratio between two absorbing components in CO has varied by a factor 2.3 \pm 0.3. We also discuss what can be derived from molecular absorption line observations concerning the invariance of physical constants.
We present a near-IR, mainly H band, photometry of 72 nearby disk galaxies. The main goal of the survey was to search for isophotal twist inside their nuclear regions. As the twist can be due in some cases to projection effects, rather than resulting from a dynamical phenomenon, we deproject - under the simplifying assumption of a 2D geometry - all galaxies whose disk position angle and inclination are known, the latter not exceeding 75 degrees. We show the ellipticity, position angle and surface brightness radial profiles, and discuss how a projection of 2D and 3D bars can distort the isophotes, give an illusion of a non-existing double bar or mask a real one. We report 15 new double-barred galaxies and confirm 2 detected previously. We identify 14 additional twists not known before and we also find nuclear triaxial structures in three SA galaxies. The frequency of Seyferts among galaxies with nuclear bars or twists is high. As a secondary product, we publish structural parameters (length and axis ratio) of large-scale bars in order to extend still scarce data on bars in the near-IR.
We have searched for water vapor emission at 183 GHz, redshifted at 157 GHz and 161 GHz, in the two ultraluminous starburst galaxies Mrk1014 and VIIZw244. Due to the low energy level of the upper state of the 183 GHz transition (\approx 200K), it is expected that the emission regions are extended, as they are in the Orion or W49N molecular cloud cores. Since the warm and dense gas, typical of star-forming cores, is expected to have a large surface filling factor in ultraluminous starburst galaxies, the maser H_2O emission at 183 GHz could have been detected. In fact, no water line has been detected in Mrk1014 and VIIZw244 with an upper limit of σ= 1 mK. We compare the H_2O/CO emission ratio with that obtained towards the ultraluminous high-z object F10214+4724, which flux is amplified by a gravitationnal lens. We suggest that the amplification factor for the H_2O emitting cores in this galaxy should be higher than for the general CO emitting region. We conclude that the warm and dense H_2O cores are much less extended in the two observed starburst galaxies than in the Orion molecular cloud; this provides some information on the physical conditions and cooling processes of the interstellar medium in starburst galaxies.
Interferometric observations of the CO(1-0) line in the elliptical galaxy NGC759 shows that it contains 2 10^9 Mo of molecular gas, confined to a circumnuclear ring with an average radius of only 650pc. The maximum gas surface density is 750 Mo/pc^2, which is comparable to the critical gas surface density for large scale gravitational instabilities. The low CO(2-1)/CO(1-0) ratio of 0.4 is consistent with a two-component molecular gas, consisting of a cold and dense phase, containing most of the mass, and a warm and diffuse component dominating the CO emission. We use a mass model for the underlying galaxy which is applicable to spherical galaxies with an r^1/4 luminosity profile. This leads to more modest estimates of the molecular gas fraction and gas surface density then would have been derived using simpler models, suggesting that many of the spectacular molecular gas properties of ultraluminous FIR galaxies, which could be described by similar mass models, may have to be revised. We discuss the possibility that NGC759 is in a late stage of a merging between two gas-rich disk galaxies.
We have reported in a previous paper (AAS 116, 417, 1996) B, V and I band photometric data for a sample of 24 edge-on interacting spiral galaxies, together with a control sample of 7 edge-on isolated galaxies. We discuss here the main result found in this study: the ratio h/z of the radial exponential scalelength h to the constant scaleheight z is about twice smaller for interacting galaxies. This is found to be due both to a thickening of the plane, and to a radial stripping or shrinking of the stellar disk. If we believe that any galaxy experienced a tidal interaction in the past, we must conclude that continuous gas accretion and subsequent star formation can bring back the ratio h/z to higher values, in a time scale of 1 Gyr.
We test through stellar N-body simulations some scenarios to explain the dynamics of the peculiar nucleus of the Andromeda galaxy (M~31): although HST observations reveal a double nucleus morphology, the rotation field is almost symmetric around the bulge gravity centre and the velocity dispersion is off-centred. We show that any m=1 perturbation has a very short life-time (a few 10$^5$ yr). Assuming that the bright peak (P1) is a cold stellar cluster infalling into the nucleus, and that the large central velocity gradient is due to a central dark mass (in the range 7~$10^7$--$10^8$~\Msun), we obtain a reasonably good fit to the observations. However, if this cluster lies in the central 20 pc, we estimate the life-time of the cluster to be less than 0.5~Myr. The dynamical friction is more efficient than estimated by analytic formulae, and is essentially due to the deformation of the stellar cluster through the huge tidal forces provided by the black hole. We show that the cluster cannot be on a circular orbit around the centre if the nucleus hosts a massive black hole of a few $10^7$~\Msun, and finally provide some estimates of the kinematics as observed with HST.
New high-quality absorption spectra of J=0-1 HCO+, HCN, HNC and the J=1-2 line of CS towards the radio core of Cen A are presented and analysed. In addition, the J=0-1 line of of H13CO+ has been detected. The new high signal-to-noise HCO+ spectrum allows a comparison with results obtained more than 7 years earlier. No significant changes in the spectrum is found. From this we can put constraints on the size of the continuum source. Relative molecular abundances are compatible with those of the Milky Way. A parametrization of the high signal-to-noise spectrum of HCO+(0-1) is presented, for future reference when looking for spectral changes.