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J. C. Vega Beltran

Publications and source records attributed to J. C. Vega Beltran.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

Position-velocity diagrams of ionized gas in the inner regions of disk galaxies

We use long-slit spectroscopy along the major axis of a sample of 23 nearby disk galaxies to study the kinematic properties of the ionized-gas component in their inner regions. For each galaxy, we derive the position-velocity diagram of the ionized gas from its emission lines. We discuss the variety of shapes observed in such position-velocity diagrams by comparing the gas velocity gradient, velocity dispersion and integrated flux measured in the inner (r +/-1'') and outer regions (r +/-4''). This kind of analysis allows the identification of galaxies which are good candidates to host a circumnuclear Keplerian gaseous disk rotating around a central mass concentration, and to follow up with Hubble Space Telescope observations.

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Kinematic properties of gas and stars in 20 disc galaxies

Ionized gas and stellar kinematical parameters have been measured along the major axis of 20 nearby disc galaxies. We discuss the properties of each sample galaxy distinguishing between those characterized by regular or peculiar kinematics. In early-type disc galaxies ionized gas tends to rotate faster than stars and to have a lower velocity dispersion, whereas in late-type spirals gas and stars show almost the same rotation velocities and velocity dispersions. Incorporating the early-type disc galaxies studied by Bertola et al. (1995), Fisher (1997) and Corsini et al. (1999), we have compiled a sample of some 40 galaxies for which the major-axis radial profiles of both the stellar and gaseous components have been measured. The value of the stellar velocity dispersion measured at Re/4 turns out to be strongly correlated with the galaxy morphological type, while the gaseous velocity dispersion is not and sometimes takes values above the range expected from thermal motions or small-scale turbulence.

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Modelling gaseous and stellar kinematics in the disc galaxies NGC 772, NGC 3898, and NGC 7782

We present V-band surface photometry and major-axis kinematics of stars and ionized gas of three early-type spiral galaxies, namely NGC 772, NGC 3898 and NGC 7782. For each galaxy we present a self-consistent Jeans model for the stellar kinematics, adopting the light distribution of bulge and disc derived by means of a two-dimensional parametric photometric decomposition. This allowed us to investigate the presence of non-circular gas motions, and derive the mass distribution of luminous and dark matter in these objects. NGC 772 and NGC 7782 have apparently normal kinematics with the ionized gas tracing the gravitational equilibrium circular speed. This is not true in the innermost region (r < 8'') of NGC 3898 where the ionized gas is rotating more slowly than the circular velocity predicted by dynamical modelling. This phenomenon is common in the bulge-dominated galaxies for which dynamical modelling enables us to make the direct comparison between the gas velocity and the circular speed, and it poses questions about the reliability of galaxy mass distributions derived by the direct decomposition of the observed ionized-gas rotation curve into the contributions of luminous and dark matter.

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NGC 4340: Double Bar + Fossil Nuclear Ring

NGC 4340 is a double-barred SB0 galaxy in the Virgo cluster (Wozniak et al. 1995). Here, we present evidence that this galaxy also posseses a luminous stellar nuclear ring of relatively old stars with little or no gas. The ring lies just outside the inner bar, at the probable inner inner Lindblad resonance (IILR) of the outer bar. Careful inspection of the isophotes and unsharp masks shows that the two bars are slightly misaligned, which suggests they may be independently rotating.

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Modeling gas and stellar kinematics in disc galaxies

We present V-band surface photometry and major-axis kinematics of stars and ionized gas of three early-type spiral galaxies, namely NGC 772, NGC 3898 and NGC 7782. For each galaxy we built a self-consistent Jeans model for the stellar kinematics, adopting the light distribution of bulge and disc derived by means of a two-dimensional parametric photometric decomposition. This allowed us to investigate the presence of non-circular gas motions, and derive the mass distribution of luminous and dark matter in these objects. We found that the observed gas rotation corresponds to the circular velocity except for the innermost region (|r|<8") of NGC 3898. This behaviour is quite common, although not ubiquitous, in the few bulge-dominated galaxies, for which dynamical modeling allows the comparison between the gas velocity and the circular speed.

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NGC 4672: a new case of an early-type disk galaxy with an orthogonally decoupled core

We report the case of the early-type disk galaxy NGC 4672 as a new example of a galaxy characterized by the orthogonal geometrical decoupling between bulge and disk. The morphological features of this galaxy are discussed as well as the velocity curves and velocity dispersion profiles of stars and ionized gas along both its major and minor axis. We conclude that NGC 4672 has structural (i.e., a bulge elongated perpendicularly to the disk) and kinematical (i.e., a stellar core rotating perpendicularly to the disk) properties similar to those of the Sa NGC 4698. The presence of the isolated core suggests that the disk component is the end result of the acquisition of external material in polar orbits around a pre-existing oblate spheroid as in the case of the ring component of AM 2020-504, the prototype of polar ring ellipticals.

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Correlation between kinematics and Hubble Sequence in disk galaxies?

We present a comparison between ionized gas and stellar kinematics for a sample of 5 early-to-intermediate disc galaxies. We measured the major axis V and sigma radial profiles for both gas and stars, and the h3 and h4 radial profiles of the stars. We also derived from the R-band surface photometry of each galaxy the light contribution of their bulges and discs. In order to investigate the differences between the velocity fields of the sample galaxies we adopted the self-consistent dynamical model by Pignatelli & Galletta (1999), which takes into account the asymmetric drift effects, the projection effects along the line-of-sight and the non-Gaussian shape of the line profiles due to the presence of different components with distinct dynamical behavior. We find for the stellar component a sizeable asymmetric drift effect in the inner regions of all the sample galaxies, as it results by comparing their stellar rotation curves with the circular velocity predicted by the models. The galaxy sample is not wide enough to draw general conclusions. However, we have found a possible correlation between the presence of slowly-rising gas rotation curves and the ratio of the bulge/disc half luminosity radii, while there is no obvious correlation with the key parameter represented by the morphological classification, namely the bulge/disc luminosity ratio. Systems with a diffuse dynamically hot component (bulge or lens) with a scale length comparable to that of the disc are characterized by slowly-rising gas rotation curves. On the other hand, in systems with a small bulge the gas follows almost circular motions, regardless of the luminosity of the bulge itself.

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The Bulge-Disk Orthogonal Decoupling in Galaxies: NGC 4698

The R-band isophotal map of the Sa galaxy NGC 4698 shows that the inner region of the bulge structure is elongated perpendicularly to the major axis of the disk, this is also true for the outer parts of the bulge if a parametric photometric decomposition is adopted. At the same time the stellar component is characterized by an inner velocity gradient and a central zero-velocity plateau along the minor and major axis of the disk respectively. This remarkable geometric and kinematic decoupling suggests that a second event occurred in the formation history of this galaxy.

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The bulge-disk orthogonal decoupling in galaxies: NGC 4698 and NGC 4672

We report the case of the geometrical and kinematical decoupling between the bulge and the disk of the Sa galaxy NGC 4698. The R-band isophotal map of this spiral shows that the bulge structure is elongated perpendicularly to the major axis of the disk. At the same time a central stellar velocity gradient is found along the major axis of the bulge. We also present the Sa NGC 4672 as good candidate of a spiral hosting a bulge and a disk orthogonally decoupled with respect to one other. This decoupling of the two fundamental components of a visible galaxy suggests that the disk could represent a second event in the history of early-type spirals.

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Kinematics of Gas and Stars in Early-type Disk Galaxies

We present a comparison between ionized gas and stellar kinematics for a sample of 5 early-to-intermediate disk galaxies. We measured the major axis V and velocity dispersion radial profiles for both gas and stars, and the h_3 and h_4 radial profiles of the stars. We also derived from the R-band surface photometry of each galaxy the light contribution of their bulges and disks. In order to investigate the differences in the velocity fields of our sample galaxies we adopted the self-consistent dynamical model by Pignatelli & Galletta (1998), which takes into account the asymmetric drift effects, the projection effects along the line-of-sight and the non-Gaussian shape of the line profiles due to the presence of different components with distinct dynamical behavior.

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Dark matter in early-type spiral galaxies: the case of NGC 2179 and of NGC 2775

We present stellar and ionized-gas velocity curves and velocity dispersion profiles for the Sa galaxies NGC 2179 and NGC 2775. Using their luminosity profiles and modeling both their stellar and gaseous kinematics, we have derived the mass distribution of the dark and the luminous matter. This unambiguously shows that, inside one disk length-scale R_D, the stellar bulge and disk account for the whole gravitating mass. The dark matter halo, likely present also at inner radii, becomes an important mass component only for R > 2 R_D. Giving the quantity and quality of the data, our results on these two luminous galaxies serve as strong counter-example to the recent claim according to which also high-luminosity spirals are dark matter dominated at essentially all radii.

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Circumnuclear Keplerian Disks in Galaxies

In this paper we demonstrate the possibility of inferring the presence of Keplerian gaseous disks using optical ground-based telescopes properly equipped. We have modeled the peculiar bidimensional shape of the emission lines in a sample of five S0-Sa galaxies as due to the motion of a gaseous disk rotating in the combined potential of a central point-like mass and of an extended stellar disk. The value of the central mass concentration estimated for four galaxies of the sample (NGC 2179, NGC 4343, NGC 4435 and NGC 4459) is ~10^9 Msolar. For the remaining galaxy NGC 5064 an upper limit of 5*10^7 Msolar is estimated.

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The Circumnuclear Ring of Ionized Gas in NGC3593

We present the results of narrow-band Halpha+NII imaging of the early-type spiral NGC3593 in combination with a study of the flux radial profiles of the NII (lambda: 654.80, 658.34 nm), Halpha, and SII (lambda: 671.65, 673.08 nm) emission lines along its major axis. The galaxy is known to contain two counterrotating stellar discs of different size and luminosity. We find that the Halpha emission mainly derives from a small central region of 57 arcsec x 25 arcsec. It consists of a filamentary pattern with a central ring. This has a diameter of about 17 arcsec (~ 0.6/h kpc) and it contributes about half of the total Halpha flux. The ring is interpreted as the result of the interaction between the acquired retrograde gas which later formed the smaller counterrotating stellar disc and the pre-existing prograde gas of the galaxy.

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Mixed Early and Late-Type Properties in the Bar of NGC 6221: Evidence for Evolution along the Hubble Sequence?

Rotation curves and velocity dispersion profiles are presented for both the stellar and gaseous components along five different position angles (P.A.=5, 50, 95, 125 and 155 degrees) of the nearby barred spiral NGC 6221. The observed kinematics extends out to about 80" from the nucleus. Narrow and broad-band imaging is also presented. The radial profiles of the fluxes ratio [NII]/Halpha reveal the presence of a ring-like structure of ionized gas, with a radius of about 9" and a deprojected circular velocity of about 280 km/s. The analysis of the dynamics of the bar indicates this ring is related to the presence of an inner Lindblad resonance (ILR) at 1.3 kpc. NGC6221 is found to exhibit intermediate properties between those of the early-type barred galaxies: the presence of a gaseous ring at an ILR, the bar edge located between the ILR's and the corotation radius beyond the steep rising portion of the rotation curve, the dust-lane pattern, and those of the late-type galaxies: an almost exponential surface brightness profile, the presence of Halpha regions along all the bar, the spiral-arm pattern. It is consistent with scenarios of bar-induced evolution from later to earlier-type galaxies.

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