arXiv subjects

J. H. van Gorkom

Publications and source records attributed to J. H. van Gorkom.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

VIVA, VLA Imaging of Virgo spirals in Atomic gas: I. The Atlas & The HI Properties

We present the result of a new VLA HI Imaging survey of Virgo galaxies, VIVA (the VLA Imaging survey of Virgo galaxies in Atomic gas). The survey includes high resolution HI data of 53 carefully selected late type galaxies (48 spirals and 5 irregular systems). The goal is to study environmental effects on HI gas properties of cluster galaxies to understand which physical mechanisms affect galaxy evolution in different density regions, and to establish how far out the impact of the cluster reaches. As a dynamically young cluster, Virgo contains examples of galaxies experiencing a variety of environmental effects. Its nearness allows us to study each galaxy in great detail. We have selected Virgo galaxies with a range of star formation properties in low to high density regions (at the projected distance from M87, d_87=0.3-3.3 Mpc). Contrary to pr evious studies, more than half of the galaxies in the sample (~60%) are fainter than 12 mag in B_T. Overall, the selected galaxies represent the late type Virgo galaxies (S0/a to Sd/Irr) down to m_p<~14.6 fairly well in morphological type, systemic velocity, subcluster membership, HI mass and deficiency. In this paper (VIVA I: the atlas and the HI properties), we present HI maps and properties, and describe the HI morphology and kinematics of individual galaxies in detail (abbreviated).

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arXiv2010

The influence of the cluster environment on the large-scale radio continuum emission of 8 Virgo cluster spirals

The influence of the environment on the polarized and total power radio continuum emission of cluster spiral galaxies is investigated. We present deep scaled array VLA 20 and 6 cm observations including polarization of 8 Virgo spiral galaxies. These data are combined with existing optical, HI, and Halpha data. Ram pressure compression leads to sharp edges of the total power distribution at one side of the galactic disk. These edges coincide with HI edges. In edge-on galaxies the extraplanar radio emission can extend further than the HI emission. In the same galaxies asymmetric gradients in the degree of polarization give additional information on the ram pressure wind direction. The local total power emission is not sensitive to the effects of ram pressure. The radio continuum spectrum might flatten in the compressed region only for very strong ram pressure. This implies that neither the local star formation rate nor the turbulent small-scale magnetic field are significantly affected by ram pressure. Ram pressure compression occurs mainly on large scales (>=1 kpc) and is primarily detectable in polarized radio continuum emission.

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arXiv2009

Only the Lonely: HI Imaging of Void Galaxies

We have completed a pilot survey imaging 15 SDSS selected void galaxies in HI in local (d=50 to 100 Mpc) voids. This small sample makes up a surprisingly interesting collection of galaxies, consisting of galaxies with asymmetric and perturbed HI disks, previously unidentified companions, and ongoing interactions. One was found to have a polar HI disk with no stellar counterpart. While our small number statistics so far are limiting, results support past findings that most void galaxies are typically late type galaxies with gas rich disks and small scale clustering similar to field galaxies despite their large scale underdense environment.

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arXiv2009

Environmental effects in the cluster Abell 85

Based on a VLA HI-imaging through the total volume of the cluster Abell 85, we compare the distribution of HI-rich and HI deficient late type galaxies with the intra cluster medium (ICM) drawn by the X-ray emission.

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arXiv2009

ESO 381-47, an early-type galaxy with extended HI and a star forming ring

ESO 381-47 is an early type galaxy with an extended HI disk. GALEX and very deep optical images reveal a distinct stellar ring far outside the optical body with a diameter of ~30 kpc, which has undergone recent star formation at 1.8 x 10^-4 Msun/yr/kpc^-2, consistent with other new results which detect low level star formation below the traditional Kennicutt relation in the outer parts of spiral galaxies. The morphology of this galaxy resembles the recently identified class of ultraviolet objects called extended ultraviolet disks, or XUV-disks. New HI observations of this galaxy taken at the ATCA and in the CnB array at the VLA show that the cold gas lies in an extended (diameter ~90 kpc) ring around the central S0 galaxy. The HI data cube can be well modeled by a warped ring. The faint ionized gas in the inner parts of the galaxy is kinematically decoupled from the stars and instead appears to exhibit velocities consistent with the rotation of the HI ring at larger radius. The peak of the stellar ring, as seen in the optical and UV, is slightly displaced to the inside relative to the peak of the HI ring. We discuss the manner in which this offset could be caused by the propagation of a radial density wave through an existing stellar disk, perhaps triggered by a galaxy collision at the center of the disk, or possibly due to a spiral density wave set up at early times in a disk too hot to form a stellar bar. Gas accretion and resonance effects due to a bar which has since dissolved are also considered to explain the presence of the star forming ring seen in the GALEX and deep optical data.

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arXiv2009

Polar disk galaxy found in wall between voids

We have found an isolated polar disk galaxy in what appears to be a cosmological wall situated between two voids. This void galaxy is unique as its polar disk was discovered serendipitously in an HI survey of SDSS void galaxies, with no optical counterpart to the HI polar disk. Yet the HI mass in the disk is comparable to the stellar mass in the galaxy. This suggests slow accretion of the HI material at a relatively recent time. There is also a hint of a warp in the outer parts of the HI disk. The central, stellar disk appears relatively blue, with faint near UV emission, and is oriented (roughly) parallel to the surrounding wall, implying gas accretion from out of the voids. The considerable gas mass and apparent lack of stars in the polar disk, coupled with the general underdensity of the environment, supports recent theories of cold flow accretion as an alternate formation mechanism for polar disk galaxies.

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arXiv2008

From major merger to radio galaxy: low surface-brightness stellar counterpart to the giant HI ring around B2 0648+27

We present the detection of a low surface-brightness stellar counterpart to an enormous (190 kpc) ring of neutral hydrogen (HI) gas that surrounds the nearby radio galaxy B2 0648+27. This system is currently in an evolutionary stage between major merger and (radio-loud) early-type galaxy. In a previous paper we investigated in detail the timescales between merger, starburst and AGN activity in B2 0648+27, based on its unusual multi-wavelength properties (large-scale HI ring, dominating post-starburst stellar population and infra-red luminosity). In this Research Note we present deep optical B- and V-band imaging that provides further evidence for the merger origin of B2 0648+27. The host galaxy shows a distorted optical morphology and a broad tidal arm is clearly present. A low surface-brightness stellar tail or partial ring curls around more than half the host galaxy at a distance of up to 55 kpc from the centre of the galaxy, following the large-scale, ring-like HI structure that we detected previously around this system. The gas and stars in this ring are most likely tidally expelled material that slowly fell back onto the host galaxy after the merger event. There also appear to be sites of star formation in the HI ring that may have formed within the gaseous tidal debris after the merger. We argue that the observed properties of the gas and stars in B2 0648+27, as well as the apparent time-delay between the merger and the starburst event, may be the logical result of a merger between two gas-rich disk galaxies with a prominent bulge, or of a merger between an elliptical and a gas-rich spiral galaxy. There also appears to be a significant time-delay between the merger/starburst event and the current episode of radio-AGN activity.

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arXiv2008

Pre-peak ram pressure stripping in the Virgo cluster spiral galaxy NGC 4501

VIVA HI observations of the Virgo spiral galaxy NGC 4501 are presented. The HI disk is sharply truncated to the southwest, well within the stellar disk. A region of low surface-density gas, which is more extended than the main HI disk, is discovered northeast of the galaxy center. These data are compared to existing 6cm polarized radio continuum emission, Halpha, and optical broad band images. We observe a coincidence between the western HI and polarized emission edges, on the one hand, and a faint Halpha emission ridge, on the other. The polarized emission maxima are located within the gaps between the spiral arms and the faint Halpha ridge. Based on the comparison of these observations with a sample of dynamical simulations with different values for maximum ram pressure and different inclination angles between the disk and the orbital plane,we conclude that ram pressure stripping can account for the main observed characteristics. NGC 4501 is stripped nearly edge-on, is heading southwest, and is ~200-300 Myr before peak ram pressure, i.e. its closest approach to M87. The southwestern ridge of enhanced gas surface density and enhanced polarized radio-continuum emission is due to ram pressure compression. It is argued that the faint western Halpha emission ridge is induced by nearly edge-on ram pressure stripping. NGC 4501 represents an especially clear example of early stage ram pressure stripping of a large cluster-spiral galaxy.

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arXiv2007

Environmentally-Driven Evolution of Simulated Cluster Galaxies

Galaxies in clusters are gas-deficient and a number of possible explanations for this observation have been advanced, including galaxy-cluster tidal interactions, galaxy harassment, and ISM-ICM gas stripping. In this paper, we use a cosmological simulation of cluster formation and evolution in order to examine this issue from a theoretical standpoint. We follow a large number of galaxies over time and track each galaxy's gas and stellar mass changes to discover what mechanism(s) dominate the evolution of the cluster galaxies. We find that while gas is lost due to a wide variety of mechanisms, the most common way is via a gas-only stripping event, and the amount of gas lost correlates with the ram-pressure the galaxy is experiencing. Although this gas-stripping occurs primarily in the central region (r < 1 Mpc), it is an important mechanism out to the virial radius of the cluster. This is due to the wide scatter in ram-pressure strength that a galaxy experiences at fixed radius. We find that the timescale for complete gas removal is > 1 Gyr. In addition, we find that galaxies in the field and in the cluster periphery (r > 2.4 Mpc) often accrete cool gas; the accretion stops between 1-2.4 Mpc, possibly indicating the onset of galaxy starvation.

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arXiv2007

WSRT Ultra-Deep Neutral Hydrogen Imaging of Galaxy Clusters at z=0.2, a Pilot Survey of Abell 963 and Abell 2192

A pilot study with the powerful new backend of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) of two galaxy clusters at z=0.2 has revealed neutral hydrogen emission from 42 galaxies. The WSRT probes a total combined volume of 3.4x10^4 Mpc^3 at resolutions of 54x86 kpc^2 and 19.7 km/s, surveying both clusters and the large scale structure in which they are embedded. In Abell 963, a dynamically relaxed, lensing Butcher-Oemler cluster with a high blue fraction, most of the gas-rich galaxies are located between 1 and 3 Mpc in projection, northeast from the cluster core. Their velocities are slightly redshifted with respect to the cluster, and this is likely a background group. None of the blue galaxies in the core of Abell 963 are detected in HI, although they have similar colors and luminosities as the HI detected galaxies in the cluster outskirts and field. Abell 2192 is less massive and more diffuse. Here, the gas-rich galaxies are more uniformly distributed. The detected HI masses range from 5x10^9 to 4x10^10 Msun. Some galaxies are spatially resolved, providing rudimentary rotation curves useful for detailed kinematic studies of galaxies in various environments. This is a pilot for ultra-deep integrations down to HI masses of 8x10^8 Msun, providing a complete survey of the gas content of galaxies at z=0.2, probing environments ranging from cluster cores to voids.

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arXiv2007

How Dry Are Red Mergers?

The focus of current research in galaxy evolution has increasingly turned to understanding the effect that mergers have on the evolution of systems on the red sequence. For those interactions purported to occur dissipationlessly (so called "dry mergers"), it would appear that the role of gas is minimal. However, if these mergers are not completely dry, then even low levels of gas may be detectable. The purpose of our study is to test whether early type galaxies with HI in or around them, or "wet" ellipticals, would have been selected as dry mergers by the criteria in van Dokkum (2005, AJ, 130, 2647). To that end, we examine a sample of 20 early types from the HI Rogues Gallery with neutral hydrogen in their immediate environs. Of these, the 15 brightest and reddest galaxies match the optical dry merger criteria, but in each case, the presence of HI means that they are not truly dry.

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arXiv2007

Virgo Galaxies with Long One-Sided HI Tails

In a new HI imaging survey of Virgo galaxies (VIVA: VLA Imaging of Virgo galaxies in Atomic gas), we find 7 spiral galaxies with long HI tails. The morphology varies but all the tails are extended well beyond the optical radii on one side. These galaxies are found in intermediate-low density regions (0.6-1 Mpc in projection from M87). The tails are all pointing roughly away from M87, suggesting that these tails may have been created by a global cluster mechanism. While the tidal effects of the cluster potential are too small, a rough estimate suggests that simple ram-pressure stripping indeed could have formed the tails in all but two cases. At least three systems show HI truncation to within the stellar disk, providing evidence for a gas-gas interaction. Although most of these galaxies do not appear disturbed optically, some have close neighbors, suggesting that tidal interactions may have moved gas outwards making it more susceptible to the ICM ram-pressure or viscosity. Indeed, a simulation study of one of the tail galaxies, NGC 4654, suggests that the galaxy is most likely affected by the combined effect of a gravitational interaction and ram-pressure stripping. We conclude that these one-sided HI tail galaxies have recently arrived in the cluster, falling in on highly radial orbits. It appears that galaxies begin to lose their gas already at intermediate distances from the cluster center through ram-pressure or turbulent viscous stripping and tidal interactions with neighbours, or a combination of both.

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arXiv2006

The Evolution of the ISM in the Mildly Disturbed Spiral Galaxy NGC 4647

We present matched-resolution maps of HI and CO emission in the Virgo Cluster spiral NGC 4647. The galaxy shows a mild kinematic disturbance in which one side of the rotation curve flattens but the other side continues to rise. This kinematic asymmetry is coupled with a dramatic asymmetry in the molecular gas distribution but not in the atomic gas. An analysis of the gas column densities and the interstellar pressure suggests that the H2/HI surface density ratio on the east side of the galaxy is three times higher than expected from the hydrostatic pressure contributed by the mass of the stellar disk. We discuss the probable effects of ram pressure, gravitational interactions, and asymmetric potentials on the interstellar medium and suggest it is likely that a m=1 perturbation in the gravitational potential could be responsible for all of the galaxy's features. Kinematic disturbances of the type seen here are common, but the curious thing about NGC 4647 is that the molecular distribution appears more disturbed than the HI distribution. Thus it is the combination of the two gas phases that provides such interesting insight into the galaxy's history and into models of the interstellar medium.

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arXiv2006

Origin of the Counter-Rotating Gas in NGC 1596

We present Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) HI imaging of the edge-on galaxy NGC 1596, which was recently found to have counter-rotating ionized gas in its center (<15"). We find a large HI envelope associated with a nearby companion, the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 1602. The HI covers a region \~11.9'x13.4' (62x70 kpc^2) and the total HI mass detected is 2.5+/-0.1x10^9 Msun (assuming an 18 Mpc distance). The HI is centered on NGC 1602 but appears to have two tidal tails, one of which crosses over NGC 1596. The HI located at the position of NGC 1596 has a velocity gradient in the same sense as the ionized gas, i.e. opposite to the stellar rotation. Both the existence of a large gas reservoir and the velocity gradient of the HI and the ionized gas strongly suggest that the ionized gas in NGC 1596 originated from NGC 1602. From the length of the HI tails we conclude that the interaction started at least 1 Gyr ago, but the unsettled, asymmetric distribution of the ionized gas suggests that the accretion occured more recently. NGC 1596 thus provides a good example where the presence of counter-rotating gas can be directly linked to an accretion event. After the accretion has stopped or the merging is complete, NGC 1596 may evolve to a system with more extended counter-rotating gas but no obvious signature of interaction. There is a substantial local HI peak in one of the two tails, where we also find a faint stellar counterpart. The M_HI/L_B ratio in this region is too high for a normal dwarf elliptical or a low surface brightness galaxy, so we conclude that a tidal dwarf is currently forming there.

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arXiv2006

A dynamical model for the heavily ram pressure stripped Virgo spiral galaxy NGC 4522

A dynamical model including ram pressure stripping is applied to the strongly HI deficient Virgo spiral galaxy NGC 4522. A carefully chosen model snapshot is compared with existing VLA HI observations. The model successfully reproduces the large-scale gas distribution and the velocity field. However it fails to reproduce the large observed HI linewidths in the extraplanar component, for which we give possible explanations. In a second step, we solve the induction equation on the velocity fields of the dynamical model and calculate the large scale magnetic field. Assuming a Gaussian distribution of relativistic electrons we obtain the distribution of polarized radio continuum emission which is also compared with our VLA observations at 6 cm. The observed maximum of the polarized radio continuum emission is successfully reproduced. Our model suggests that the ram pressure maximum occurred only ~50 Myr ago. Since NGC 4522 is located far away from the cluster center (~1 Mpc) where the intracluster medium density is too low to cause the observed stripping if the intracluster medium is static and smooth, two scenarios are envisaged: (i) the galaxy moves very rapidly within the intracluster medium and is not even bound to the cluster; in this case the galaxy has just passed the region of highest intracluster medium density; (ii) the intracluster medium is not static but moving due to the infall of the M49 group of galaxies. In this case the galaxy has just passed the region of highest intracluster medium velocity. This study shows the strength of combining high resolution HI and polarized radio continuum emission with detailed numerical modeling of the evolution of the gas and the large-scale magnetic field.

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arXiv2005

The very late-stage merger IC 4200:pre-elliptical or pre-spiral?

Recent observations have revealed a class of unusually HI-rich early-type galaxies. By combining observations of their morphology, stellar populations and neutral hydrogen we aim to understand how these galaxies fit into the hierarchical formation paradigm. Here we present the result of our radio and optical observations of a test case galaxy, the E/S0 IC 4200.

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arXiv2005

Observations of Stripped Edge-on Virgo Cluster Galaxies

We present observations of highly inclined, HI deficient, Virgo cluster spiral galaxies. Our high-resolution VLA HI observations of edge-on galaxies allow us to distinguish extraplanar gas from disk gas. All of our galaxies have truncated H-alpha disks, with little or no disk gas beyond a truncation radius. While all the gas disks are truncated, the observations show evidence for a continuum of stripping states: symmetric, undisturbed truncated gas disks indicate galaxies that were stripped long ago, while more asymmetric disks suggest ongoing or more recent stripping. We compare these timescale estimates with results obtained from two-dimensional stellar spectroscopy of the outer disks of galaxies in our sample. One of the galaxies in our sample, NGC 4522 is a clear example of active ram-pressure stripping, with 40% of its detected HI being extraplanar. As expected, the outer disk stellar populations of this galaxy show clear signs of recent (and, in fact, ongoing) stripping. Somewhat less expected, however, is the fact that the spectrum of the outer disk of this galaxy, with very strong Balmer absorption and no observable emission, would be classified as ``k+a'' if observed at higher redshift. Our observations of NGC 4522 and other galaxies at a range of cluster radii allow us to better understand the role that clusters play in the structure and evolution of disk galaxies.

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arXiv2005

A High Resolution HI Study of Selected Virgo Galaxies - Preliminary Results on Gas Morphology & Extra-Planar Gas

We present preliminary results of VLA HI imaging of selected Virgo cluster galaxies. The goal is to study environmental effects on galaxy evolution. Our sample of 41 galaxies is spread throughout the cluster and spans a wide range in star formation properties. Here we present the total HI maps of 13 galaxies. We find a number of galaxies with extended HI tails, almost all pointing away from the cluster center. Truncated HI disks are found close to the center but also in the outer region. Some galaxies near the cluster center show compression of the gas on one side. Multiwavelength data of NGC 4569 and kinematics on NGC 4396 indicate that some of the HI is extra-planar. These preliminary results on the HI morphology already suggest that a variety of environmental effects such as ICM-ISM interactions, harassment, tidal interactions or mergers may be at work to affect the evolution of galaxies.

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