arXiv subjects

M. Pohlen

Publications and source records attributed to M. Pohlen.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

FIR colours and SEDs of nearby galaxies observed with Herschel

We present infrared colours (in the 25-500 mic spectral range) and UV to radio continuum spectral energy distributions of a sample of 51 nearby galaxies observed with SPIRE on Herschel. The observed sample includes all morphological classes, from quiescent ellipticals to active starbursts. Active galaxies have warmer colour temperatures than normal spirals. In ellipticals hosting a radio galaxy, the far-infrared (FIR) emission is dominated bynthe synchrotron nuclear emission. The colour temperature of the cold dust is higher in quiescent E-S0a than in star-forming systems probably because of the different nature of their dust heating sources (evolved stellar populations, X-ray, fast electrons) and dust grain properties. In contrast to the colour temperature of the warm dust, the f350/f500 index sensitive to the cold dust decreases with star formation and increases with metallicity, suggesting an overabundance of cold dust or an emissivity parameter beta<2 in low metallicity, active systems.

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arXiv2010

SPIRE imaging of M82: cool dust in the wind and tidal streams

M82 is a unique representative of a whole class of galaxies, starbursts with superwinds, in the Very Nearby Galaxy Survey with Herschel. In addition, its interaction with the M81 group has stripped a significant portion of its interstellar medium from its disk. SPIRE maps now afford better characterization of the far-infrared emission from cool dust outside the disk, and sketch a far more complete picture of its mass distribution and energetics than previously possible. They show emission coincident in projection with the starburst wind and in a large halo, much more extended than the PAH band emission seen with Spitzer. Some complex substructures coincide with the brightest PAH filaments, and others with tidal streams seen in atomic hydrogen. We subtract the far-infrared emission of the starburst and underlying disk from the maps, and derive spatially-resolved far-infrared colors for the wind and halo. We interpret the results in terms of dust mass, dust temperature, and global physical conditions. In particular, we examine variations in the dust physical properties as a function of distance from the center and the wind polar axis, and conclude that more than two thirds of the extraplanar dust has been removed by tidal interaction, and not entrained by the starburst wind.

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arXiv2010

The far-infrared/radio correlation as probed by Herschel

We set out to determine the ratio, q(IR), of rest-frame 8-1000um flux, S(IR), to monochromatic radio flux, S(1.4GHz), for galaxies selected at far-IR and radio wavelengths, to search for signs that the ratio evolves with redshift, luminosity or dust temperature, and to identify any far-IR-bright outliers - useful laboratories for exploring why the far-IR/radio correlation is generally so tight when the prevailing theory suggests variations are almost inevitable. We use flux-limited 250-um and 1.4-GHz samples, obtained in GOODS-N using Herschel (HerMES; PEP) and the VLA. We determine bolometric IR output using ten bands spanning 24-1250um, exploiting data from PACS and SPIRE, as well as Spitzer, SCUBA, AzTEC and MAMBO. We also explore the properties of an L(IR)-matched sample, designed to reveal evolution of q(IR) with z, spanning log L(IR) = 11-12 L(sun) and z=0-2, by stacking into the radio and far-IR images. For 1.4-GHz-selected galaxies, we see tentative evidence of a break in the flux ratio, q(IR), at L(1.4GHz) ~ 10^22.7 W/Hz, where AGN are starting to dominate the radio power density, and of weaker correlations with z and T(d). From our 250-um-selected sample we identify a small number of far-IR-bright outliers, and see trends of q(IR) with L(1.4GHz), L(IR), T(d) and z, noting that some of these are inter-related. For our L(IR)-matched sample, there is no evidence that q(IR) changes significantly as we move back into the epoch of galaxy formation: we find q(IR) goes as (1+z)^gamma, where gamma = -0.04 +/- 0.03 at z=0-2; however, discounting the least reliable data at z<0.5 we find gamma = -0.26 +/- 0.07, modest evolution which may be related to the radio background seen by ARCADE2, perhaps driven by <10uJy radio activity amongst ordinary star-forming galaxies at z>1.

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arXiv2010

Outskirts of spiral galaxies: result of a secular evolution process?

We present our recent results on the properties of the outskirts of disk galaxies. In particular, we focus on spiral galaxies with stellar disk truncations in their radial surface brightness profiles. Using SDSS, UDF and GOODS data we show how the position of the break (i.e., a direct estimator of the size of the stellar disk) evolves with time since z~1. Our findings agree with an evolution on the radial position of the break by a factor of 1.3+/-0.1 in the last 8 Gyr for galaxies with similar stellar masses. We also present radial color gradients and how they evolve with time. At all redshift we find a radial inside-out bluing reaching a minimum at the position of the break radius, this minimum is followed by a reddening outwards. Our results constrain several galaxy disk formation models and favour a scenario where stars are formed inside the break radius and are relocated in the outskirts of galaxies through secular processes.

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arXiv2010

The Herschel Reference Survey

The Herschel Reference Survey is a guaranteed time Herschel key project and will be a benchmark study of dust in the nearby universe. The survey will complement a number of other Herschel key projects including large cosmological surveys that trace dust in the distant universe. We will use Herschel to produce images of a statistically-complete sample of 323 galaxies at 250, 350 and 500 micron. The sample is volume-limited, containing sources with distances between 15 and 25 Mpc and flux limits in the K-band to minimize the selection effects associated with dust and with young high-mass stars and to introduce a selection in stellar mass. The sample spans the whole range of morphological types (ellipticals to late-type spirals) and environments (from the field to the centre of the Virgo Cluster) and as such will be useful for other purposes than our own. We plan to use the survey to investigate (i) the dust content of galaxies as a function of Hubble type, stellar mass and environment, (ii) the connection between the dust content and composition and the other phases of the interstellar medium and (iii) the origin and evolution of dust in galaxies. In this paper, we describe the goals of the survey, the details of the sample and some of the auxiliary observing programs that we have started to collect complementary data. We also use the available multi-frequency data to carry out an analysis of the statistical properties of the sample.

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arXiv2009

The Herschel ATLAS

The Herschel ATLAS is the largest open-time key project that will be carried out on the Herschel Space Observatory. It will survey 510 square degrees of the extragalactic sky, four times larger than all the other Herschel surveys combined, in five far-infrared and submillimetre bands. We describe the survey, the complementary multi-wavelength datasets that will be combined with the Herschel data, and the six major science programmes we are undertaking. Using new models based on a previous submillimetre survey of galaxies, we present predictions of the properties of the ATLAS sources in other wavebands.

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arXiv2008

A pilot survey of stellar tidal streams in nearby spiral galaxies

Within the hierarchical framework for galaxy formation, merging and tidal interactions are expected to shape large galaxies to this day. While major mergers are quite rare at present, minor mergers and satellite disruptions - which result in stellar streams - should be common, and are indeed seen in both the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. As a pilot study, we have carried out ultra-deep, wide-field imaging of some spiral galaxies in the Local Volume, which has revealed external views of such stellar tidal streams at unprecedented detail, with data taken at small robotic telescopes (0.1-0.5-meter) that provide exquisite surface brightness sensitivity. The goal of this project is to undertake the first systematic and comprehensive imaging survey of stellar tidal streams, from a sample of ~50 nearby Milky-Way-like spiral galaxies within 15 Mpc, that features a surface brightness sensitivity of ~ 30 mag/arcsec^2 The survey will result in estimates of the incidence, size/geometry and stellar luminosity/mass distribution of such streams. This will not only put our Milky Way and M31 in context but, for the first time, also provide an extensive statistical basis for comparison with state-of-the-art, self-consistent cosmological simulations of this phenomenon.

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arXiv2008

Extended UV (XUV) Emission in Nearby Galaxy Disks

We summarize the main properties of the extended UV (XUV) emission found in roughly 30% of the nearby spiral galaxies observed by the GALEX satellite. Two different classes of XUV disks are identified, the Type 1 XUV disks where significant, structured UV-bright features are found beyond the "classical" azimuthally-averaged star-formation threshold, and the Type 2 XUV disks, which are characterized by very extended (seven times the area where most of the stellar mass is found), blue [(FUV-K)<5mag] outer disks. These latter disks are extreme examples of galaxies growing inside-out. The few XUV disks studied in detail to date are rich in HI but relatively poor in molecular gas, have stellar populations with luminosity-weighted ages of ~1 Gyr, and ionized-gas metal abundances of ~Zsun/10. As part of the CAHA-XUV project we are in the process of obtaining deep multi-wavelength imaging and spectroscopy of 65 XUV-disk galaxies so to determine whether or not these properties are common among XUV disks.

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arXiv2007

Three Types of Galaxy Disks

We present our new scheme for the classification of radial stellar surface brightness profiles for disk galaxies. We summarize the current theoretical attempts to understand their origin and give an example of an application by comparing local galaxies with their counterparts at high redshift (z~1).

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arXiv2007

On the 3 dimensional structure of edge-on disk galaxies

A simple algorithm is employed to deproject the two dimensional images of a pilot sample of 12 high-quality images of edge-on disk galaxies and to study their intrinsic 3 dimensional stellar distribution. We examine the radial profiles of the stars as a function of height above the plane and report a general trend within our sample of an increasing radial scalelength with height outside of the dustlane. This could be explained by the widespread presence of a thick disk component in these galaxies. In addition, the 3 dimensional view allows the study of the vertical distribution of the outer disk, beyond the break region, where we detect a significant increase in scalelength with vertical distance from the major axis for the truncated disks. This could be regarded as a weakening of the "truncation" with increasing distance from the plane. Furthermore, we conclude that the recently revised classification of the radial surface brightness profiles found for face-on galaxies is indeed independent of geometry. In particular, we find at least one example of each of the three main profile classes as defined in complete samples of intermediate to face-on galaxies: not-truncated, truncated and antitruncated. The position and surface brightness that mark the break location in the radial light distribution are found to be consistent with those of face-on galaxies.

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arXiv2007

Are truncated stellar disks linked to the molecular gas density?

We know that the slope of the radial, stellar light distribution in galaxies is well described by an exponential decline and this distribution is often truncated at a break radius ($R_{br}$). We don't have a clear understanding for the origin of these outer truncations and several hypotheses have been proposed to explain them. We want to test the various theories with direct observations of the cold molecular gas for a few truncated galaxies in comparison with the non-truncated ones. The answer to the existence of a possible link between truncated stellar disks and the molecular gas density cannot be obtained from CO maps in the literature, because so far there are no galaxies with a clear truncation observed in CO at high resolution.

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arXiv2007

Low Surface Brightness Galaxies around the HDF-S: I. Object extraction and photometric results

This study reports on photometric results of a search for LSB galaxies in a 0.76deg^2 field centered on the HDF-S. We present results from photometric analysis of the derived sample galaxies and compare number densities to results of former surveys. We used public data from the NOAO Deep Wide-Field survey and the multi-wavelength Goddard Space Flight Center survey. The former reaches a limiting surface brightness of mu_BW~29 magarcsec^-2 and is therefore one of the most sensitive ground based data sets systematically analyzed for LSB galaxies. To reduce the contamination by High Surface Brightness (HSB) galaxies at higher redshift, mimicking LSBs due to the ''Tolman Dimming'' effect, we placed a lower diameter limit of 10.8 arcsec and compared the colors of our candidate galaxies with the redshift tracks of 5 ''standard'' HSB galaxy types. We report the detection of 37 galaxies with low apparent central surface brightness (mu_BW>=22 magarcsec^-2). Using color-color diagrams we were able to derive a subsample of 9 LSB galaxy candidates with intrinsic central surface brightnesses below mu_(0,BW)=22.5 magarcsec^-2 and diameters larger than the preselected size limit of 10.8 arcsec. We selected three additional LSB candidates due to there extreme low blue central surface brightness (mu_BW>=25 magarcsec^-2). These galaxies were only found in the larger and more sensitive NOAO data. So finally we derived a sample of 12 LSB galaxy candidates and therfore this survey results in a four times higher surface density than other CCD based surveys for field galaxies before.

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arXiv2006

The structure of galactic disks: Studying late-type spiral galaxies using SDSS

Using imaging data from the SDSS survey, we present the g' and r' radial stellar light distribution of a complete sample of ~90 face-on to intermediate inclined, nearby, late-type (Sb-Sdm) spiral galaxies. The surface brightness profiles are reliable (1sigma uncertainty less than 0.2 mag) down to mu=~27magsqarcsec. Only ~10% of all galaxies have a normal/standard purely exponential disk down to our noise limit. The surface brightness distribution of the rest of the galaxies is better described as a broken exponential. About 60% of the galaxies have a break in the exponential profile between ~1.5-4.5 times the scalelength followed by a downbending, steeper outer region. Another ~30% shows also a clear break between ~4.0-6.0 times the scalelength but followed by an upbending, shallower outer region. A few galaxies have even a more complex surface brightness distribution. The shape of the profiles correlates with Hubble type. Downbending breaks are more frequent in later Hubble types while the fraction of upbending breaks rises towards earlier types. No clear relation is found between the environment, as characterised by the number of neighbours, and the shape of the profiles of the galaxies.

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arXiv2005

The outer disks of galaxies: "To be or not to be truncated?"

We have in recent years come to view the outer parts of galaxies as having vital clues about their formation and evolution. Here, we would like to briefly present our results from a complete sample of nearby, late-type, spiral galaxies, using data from the SDSS survey, especially focused on the stellar light distribution in the outer disk. Our study shows that only the minority of late-type galaxies show a classical, exponential Freeman Type I profile down to the noise limit, whereas the majority exhibit either downbending (stellar truncation as introduced 1979 by Piet van der Kruit) or upbending profiles.

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arXiv2004

Stellar Disk Truncations: Where do we stand ?

In the light of several recent developments we revisit the phenomenon of galactic stellar disk truncations. Even 25 years since the first paper on outer breaks in the radial light profiles of spiral galaxies, their origin is still unclear. The two most promising explanations are that these 'outer edges' either trace the maximum angular momentum during the galaxy formation epoch, or are associated with global star formation thresholds. Depending on their true physical nature, these outer edges may represent an improved size characteristic (e.g., as compared to D_25) and might contain fossil evidence imprinted by the galaxy formation and evolutionary history. We will address several observational aspects of disk truncations: their existence, not only in normal HSB galaxies, but also in LSB and even dwarf galaxies; their detailed shape, not sharp cut-offs as thought before, but in fact demarcating the start of a region with a steeper exponential distribution of starlight; their possible association with bars; as well as problems related to the line-of-sight integration for edge-on galaxies (the main targets for truncation searches so far). Taken together, these observations currently favour the star-formation threshold model, but more work is necessary to implement the truncations as adequate parameters characterising galactic disks.

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arXiv2004

Thick Disks of Lenticular Galaxies

Thick disks are faint and extended stellar components found around several disk galaxies including our Milky Way. The Milky Way thick disk, the only one studied in detail, contains mostly old disk stars (~10 Gyr), so that thick disks are likely to trace the early stages of disk evolution. Previous detections of thick disk stellar light in external galaxies have been originally made for early-type, edge-on galaxies but detailed 2D thick/thin disk decompositions have been reported for only a scant handful of mostly late-type disk galaxies. We present in this paper for the first time explicit 3D thick/thin disk decompositions characterising the presence and properties (eg scalelength and scaleheight) for a sample of eight lenticular galaxies by fitting 3D disk models to the data. For six out of the eight galaxies we were able to derive a consistent thin/thick disk model. The mean scaleheight of the thick disk is 3.6 times larger than that of the thin disk. The scalelength of the thick disk is about twice, and its central luminosity density between 3-10% of, the thin disk value. Both thin and thick disk are truncated at similar radii. This implies that thick disks extend over fewer scalelengths than thin disks, and turning a thin disk into a thick one requires therefore vertical but little radial heating. All these structural parameters are similar to thick disk parameters for later Hubble-type galaxies previously studied. We discuss our data in respect to present models for the origin of thick disks, either as pre- or post-thin-disk structures, providing new observational constraints.

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arXiv2004

Box- and peanut-shaped bulges. III. A new class of bulges: Thick Boxy Bulges

Inspecting all 1224 edge-on disk galaxies larger than 2' in the RC3 on DSS images we have found several galaxies with extraordinary bulges meeting two criteria: They are box shaped and large in respect to the diameters of their galaxies. These bulges are often disturbed, show frequently prominent irregularities and asymmetries, and some possess possible merger remnants or merging satellites. For these bulges we have introduced the term "Thick Boxy Bulges" (TBBs). About 2% of all disk galaxies (S0-Sd), respectively 4% of all galaxies with box- and peanut-shaped (b/p) bulges, belong to this class of galaxies. Using multicolour CCD and NIR data we have enlarged and followed up our sample of nearly 20 galaxies with a TBB. The disturbed morphology of a large fraction of these galaxies shows that many of the TBB galaxies are not dynamically settled. For the TBBs the extent of the box shape seems to be too large to result from a normal bar potential. Therefore we conclude that two classes of b/p bulges exist with different origins. While most (~96%) b/p bulges can be explained by bars alone, the extended boxy structures of TBBs result most likely from accreted material by infalling satellite companions (soft merging).

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arXiv2003

Tidal Streams around External Galaxies

We have the unique opportunity to observe and model nearby streams around the two large Local Group spirals Milky Way and M31 in great detail. However, the detection of streams around other external galaxies is required to verify the general application of the derived results. We give a short summary of streams around other galaxies known in the literature, measuring for the first time the surface brightness of Malin's M83 stream with modern CCD imaging. In addition, we present four new detections of possible stellar streams around disk galaxies.

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