arXiv subjects

Martha P. Haynes

Publications and source records attributed to Martha P. Haynes.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2011

COLD GASS, an IRAM legacy survey of molecular gas in massive galaxies: I. Relations between H2, HI, stellar content and structural properties

We are conducting COLD GASS, a legacy survey for molecular gas in nearby galaxies. Using the IRAM 30m telescope, we measure the CO(1-0) line in a sample of ~350 nearby (D=100-200 Mpc), massive galaxies (log(M*/Msun)>10.0). The sample is selected purely according to stellar mass, and therefore provides an unbiased view of molecular gas in these systems. By combining the IRAM data with SDSS photometry and spectroscopy, GALEX imaging and high-quality Arecibo HI data, we investigate the partition of condensed baryons between stars, atomic gas and molecular gas in 0.1-10L* galaxies. In this paper, we present CO luminosities and molecular hydrogen masses for the first 222 galaxies. The overall CO detection rate is 54%, but our survey also uncovers the existence of sharp thresholds in galaxy structural parameters such as stellar mass surface density and concentration index, below which all galaxies have a measurable cold gas component but above which the detection rate of the CO line drops suddenly. The mean molecular gas fraction MH2/M* of the CO detections is 0.066+/-0.039, and this fraction does not depend on stellar mass, but is a strong function of NUV-r colour. Through stacking, we set a firm upper limit of MH2/M*=0.0016+/-0.0005 for red galaxies with NUV-r>5.0. The average molecular-to-atomic hydrogen ratio in present-day galaxies is 0.3, with significant scatter from one galaxy to the next. The existence of strong detection thresholds in both the HI and CO lines suggests that "quenching" processes have occurred in these systems. Intriguingly, atomic gas strongly dominates in the minority of galaxies with significant cold gas that lie above these thresholds. This suggests that some re-accretion of gas may still be possible following the quenching event.

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arXiv2010

The GALEX Arecibo SDSS survey: III. Evidence for the Inside-Out Formation of Galactic Disks

We analyze a sample of galaxies with stellar masses greater than $10^{10} M_{\odot}$ and with redshifts in the range $0.025<z<0.05$ for which HI mass measurements are available from the GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey (GASS) or from the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey (ALFALFA). At a given value of $M_*$, our sample consists primarily of galaxies that are more HI-rich than average. We constructed a series of three control samples for comparison with these HI-rich galaxies. As expected, HI-rich galaxies differ strongly from galaxies of same stellar mass that are selected without regard to HI content. The majority of these differences are attributable to the fact that galaxies with more gas are bluer and more actively star-forming. In order to identify those galaxy properties that are causally connected with HI content, we compare results derived for the HI sample with those derived for galaxies matched in stellar mass, size and NUV-$r$ colour. The only photometric property that is clearly attributable to increasing HI content, is the colour gradient of the galaxy. Galaxies with larger HI fractions have bluer, more actively star-forming outer disks compared to the inner part of the galaxy. HI-rich galaxies also have larger $g$-band radii compared to $i$-band radii. Our results are consistent with the "inside-out" picture of disk galaxy formation, which has commonly served as a basis for semi-analytic models of the formation of disks in the context of Cold Dark Matter cosmologies. The lack of any intrinsic connection between HI fraction and galaxy asymmetry suggests that gas is accreted smoothly onto the outer disk.

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arXiv2010

ALFALFA HI Data Stacking I. Does the Bulge Quench Ongoing Star Formation in Early-Type Galaxies?

We have carried out an HI stacking analysis of a volume-limited sample of ~5000 galaxies with imaging and spectroscopic data from GALEX and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which lie within the current footprint of the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) Survey. Our galaxies are selected to have stellar masses greater than 10^10 Msun and redshifts in the range 0.025 2.6 and with light profiles that are well fit by a De Vaucouleurs model. We then stack HI line spectra extracted from the ALFALFA data cubes at the 3-D positions of the galaxies from these two samples in bins of stellar mass, stellar mass surface density, central velocity dispersion, and NUV-r colour. We use the stacked spectra to estimate the average HI gas fractions M_HI/M_* of the galaxies in each bin. Our main result is that the HI content of a galaxy is not influenced by its bulge. The average HI gas fractions of galaxies in both our samples correlate most strongly with NUV-r colour and with stellar surface density. The relation between average HI fraction and these two parameters is independent of concentration index C. We have tested whether the average HI gas content of bulge-dominated galaxies on the red sequence, differs from that of late-type galaxies on the red sequence. We find no evidence that galaxies with a significant bulge component are less efficient at turning their available gas reservoirs into stars. This result is in contradiction with the "morphological quenching" scenario proposed by Martig et al. (2009).

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arXiv2010

The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey: X. The HI Mass Function and Omega_HI From the 40% ALFALFA Survey

The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) survey has completed source extraction for 40% of its total sky area, resulting in the largest sample of HI-selected galaxies to date. We measure the HI mass function from a sample of 10,119 galaxies with 6.2 < log (M_HI/M_Sun) < 11.0 and with well-described mass errors that accurately reflect our knowledge of low-mass systems. We characterize the survey sensitivity and its dependence on profile velocity width, the effect of large-scale structure, and the impact of radio frequency interference in order to calculate the HIMF with both the 1/Vmax and 2DSWML methods. We also assess a flux-limited sample to test the robustness of the methods applied to the full sample. These measurements are in excellent agreement with one another; the derived Schechter function parameters are phi* = 4.8 (+/- 0.3) * 10^-3, log (M*/M_Sun) + 2 log(h_70) = 9.96 (+/- 0.2), and alpha = -1.33 (+/- 0.02). We find Omega_HI = 4.3 (+/- 0.3) * 10^-4, 16% larger than the 2005 HIPASS result, and our Schechter function fit extrapolated to log (M_HI/M_Sun) = 11.0 predicts an order of magnitude more galaxies than HIPASS. The larger values of Omega_HI and of M* imply an upward adjustment for estimates of the detection rate of future large-scale HI line surveys with, e.g., the Square Kilometer Array. A comparison with simulated galaxies from the Millennium Run and a treatment of photoheating as a method of baryon removal from HI-selected halos indicates that the disagreement between dark matter mass functions and baryonic mass functions may soon be resolved.

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arXiv2010

The GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey II: The Star Formation Efficiency of Massive Galaxies

We use measurements of the HI content, stellar mass and star formation rates in ~190 massive galaxies with stellar masses greater than 10^10 Msun, obtained from the Galex Arecibo SDSS Survey (GASS) described in Paper I (Catinella et al. 2010) to explore the global scaling relations associated with the bin-averaged ratio of the star formation rate over the HI mass, which we call the HI-based star formation efficiency (SFE). Unlike the mean specific star formation rate, which decreases with stellar mass and stellar mass surface density, the star formation efficiency remains relatively constant across the sample with a value close to SFE = 10^-9.5 yr^-1 (or an equivalent gas consumption timescale of ~3 Gyr). Specifically, we find little variation in SFE with stellar mass, stellar mass surface density, NUV-r color and concentration. We interpret these results as an indication that external processes or feedback mechanisms that control the gas supply are important for regulating star formation in massive galaxies. An investigation into the detailed distribution of SFEs reveals that approximately 5% of the sample shows high efficiencies with SFE > 10^-9 yr^-1, and we suggest that this is very likely due to a deficiency of cold gas rather than an excess star formation rate. Conversely, we also find a similar fraction of galaxies that appear to be gas-rich for their given specific star-formation rate, although these galaxies show both a higher than average gas fraction and lower than average specific star formation rate. Both of these populations are plausible candidates for "transition" galaxies, showing potential for a change (either decrease or increase) in their specific star formation rate in the near future. We also find that 36+/-5% of the total HI mass density and 47+/-5% of the total SFR density is found in galaxies with stellar mass greater than 10^10 Msun. [abridged]

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arXiv2009

The GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey. I. Gas Fraction Scaling Relations of Massive Galaxies and First Data Release

We introduce the GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey (GASS), an on-going large program that is gathering high quality HI-line spectra using the Arecibo radio telescope for an unbiased sample of ~1000 galaxies with stellar masses greater than 10^10 Msun and redshifts 0.025<z<0.05, selected from the SDSS spectroscopic and GALEX imaging surveys. The galaxies are observed until detected or until a low gas mass fraction limit (1.5-5%) is reached. This paper presents the first Data Release, consisting of ~20% of the final GASS sample. We use this data set to explore the main scaling relations of HI gas fraction with galaxy structure and NUV-r colour. A large fraction (~60%) of the galaxies in our sample are detected in HI. We find that the atomic gas fraction decreases strongly with stellar mass, stellar surface mass density and NUV-r colour, but is only weakly correlated with galaxy bulge-to-disk ratio (as measured by the concentration index of the r-band light). We also find that the fraction of galaxies with significant (more than a few percent) HI decreases sharply above a characteristic stellar surface mass density of 10^8.5 Msun kpc^-2. The fraction of gas-rich galaxies decreases much more smoothly with stellar mass. One of the key goals of GASS is to identify and quantify the incidence of galaxies that are transitioning between the blue, star-forming cloud and the red sequence of passively-evolving galaxies. Likely transition candidates can be identified as outliers from the mean scaling relations between gas fraction and other galaxy properties. [abridged]

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arXiv2009

Are Newly Discovered HI High Velocity Clouds Minihalos in the Local Group?

A set of HI sources extracted from the north Galactic polar region by the ongoing ALFALFA survey has properties that are consistent with the interpretation that they are associated with isolated minihalos in the outskirts of the Local Group (LG). Unlike objects detected by previous surveys, such as the Compact High Velocity Clouds of Braun & Burton (1999), the HI clouds found by ALFALFA do not violate any structural requirements or halo scaling laws of the LambdaCDM structure paradigm, nor would they have been detected by extant HI surveys of nearby galaxy groups other than the LG. At a distance of d Mpc, their HI masses range between $5 x 10^4 d^2 and 10^6 d^2 solar and their HI radii between <0.4d and 1.6 d kpc. If they are parts of gravitationally bound halos, the total masses would be on order of 10^8--10^9 solar, their baryonic content would be signifcantly smaller than the cosmic fraction of 0.16 and present in a ionized gas phase of mass well exceeding that of the neutral phase. This study does not however prove that the minihalo interpretation is unique. Among possible alternatives would be that the clouds are shreds of the Leading Arm of the Magellanic Stream.

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arXiv2009

The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey: VIII. HI Source Catalog of the Anti-Virgo Region at dec = +25 deg

We present a fourth catalog of HI sources from the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) Survey. We report 541 detections over 136 deg2, within the region of the sky having 22h < R.A. < 03h and 24 deg < Dec. < 26 deg . This complements a previous catalog in the region 26 deg < Dec. < 28 deg (Saintonge et al. 2008). We present here the detections falling into three classes: (a) extragalactic sources with S/N > 6.5, where the reliability of the catalog is better than 95%; (b) extragalactic sources 5.0 < S/N < 6.5 and a previously measured optical redshift that corroborates our detection; or (c) High Velocity Clouds (HVCs), or subcomponents of such clouds, in the periphery of the Milky Way. Of the 541 objects presented here, 90 are associated with High Velocity Clouds, while the remaining 451 are identified as extragalactic objects. Optical counterparts have been matched with all but one of the extragalactic objects.

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arXiv2008

The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey VII: A Neutral Hydrogen Cloud Complex in the Virgo Cluster

We present observations of an HI cloud complex most likely located in the Virgo galaxy cluster, first reported by Kent et al. (2007). The complex consists of five clouds, detected in the data set of the ALFALFA extragalactic HI survey at Arecibo. The clouds have radial velocities between cz~480 and 610 km/s. At the Virgo cluster distance, they are spread over a projected span of 170 kpc and have HI masses ranging from 0.48 to 1.7 x 10^8 Msun. The overall HI mass of the complex is 5.1 x 10^8 Msun. The clouds' velocity widths vary between 50 and 250 km/s. New results of follow-up aperture synthesis observations conducted with the Very Large Array are also presented, which yield a higher resolution view of two of the clouds in the complex. These two resolved clouds show no evidence of symmetry in the gas distribution or of any ordered motions. The possibility that the complex is a group of primordial objects, embedded in their own dark matter halo is thought to be unlikely. Scenarios in which the clouds have been removed from the disk of a galaxy traveling at high speed through the intracluster medium are considered. The most likely among those is thought to be one where the clouds were separated from NGC 4445 at a time >0.5 Gyr ago. The orbital velocity of the clouds and the putative parent galaxy would now be seen at a relatively large angle with respect to the line of sight.

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arXiv2008

A Pilot Survey of HI in Field Galaxies at Redshift z~0.2

We present the first results of a targeted survey carried out with the 305 m Arecibo telescope to detect HI-line emission from galaxies at redshift z>0.16. The targets, selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey database, are non-interacting disk galaxies in relatively isolated fields. We present here the HI spectra and derived HI parameters for ten objects detected in this pilot program. All are massive disk galaxies in the redshift interval 0.17-0.25 (i.e. 2-3 Gyr look-back time), with HI masses M_HI=3-8 x 10^10 Msun and high gas mass fractions (HI - to - stellar mass ratios ~10-30%). Our results demonstrate the efficacy of exploiting Arecibo's large collecting area to measure the HI mass and rotational velocity of galaxies above redshift z=0.2. In particular, this sample includes the highest redshift detections of HI emission from individual galaxies made to date. Extension of this pilot program will allow us to study the HI properties of field galaxies at cosmological distances, thus complementing ongoing radio synthesis observations of cluster samples at z~0.2.

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arXiv2008

The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey: VI. Second HI Source Catalog of the Virgo Cluster Region

We present the third installment of HI sources extracted from the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA extragalactic survey. This dataset continues the work of the Virgo ALFALFA catalog. The catalogs and spectra published here consist of data obtained during the 2005 and 2006 observing sessions of the survey. The catalog consists of 578 HI detections within the range 11h 36m < R.A.(J2000) < 13h 52m and +08 deg < Dec.(J2000) < +12 deg, and cz_sun < 18000 km/s. The catalog entries are identified with optical counterparts where possible through the examination of digitized optical images. The catalog detections can be classified into three categories: (a) detections of high reliability with S/N > 6.5; (b) high velocity clouds in the Milky Way or its periphery; and (c) signals of lower S/N which coincide spatially with an optical object and known redshift. 75% of the sources are newly published HI detections. Of particular note is a complex of HI clouds projected between M87 and M49 that do not coincide with any optical counterparts. Candidate objects without optical counterparts are few. The median redshift for this sample is 6500 km/s and the cz distribution exhibits the local large scale structure consisting of Virgo and the background void and the A1367-Coma supercluster regime at cz_sun ~7000 km/s. Position corrections for telescope pointing errors are applied to the dataset by comparing ALFALFA continuum centroid with those cataloged in the NRAO VLA Sky Survey. The uncorrected positional accuracy averages 27 arcsec ~(21 arcsec ~median) for all sources with S/N > 6.5 and is of order ~21 arcsec ~(16 arcsec ~median) for signals with S/N > 12. Uncertainties in distances toward the Virgo cluster can affect the calculated HI mass distribution.

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arXiv2008

The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) Extragalactic HI Survey

The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) survey is a program aimed at obtaining a census of HI-bearing objects over a cosmologically significant volume of the local universe. When complete in ~3-4 years, it will cover 7000 square degrees of high latitude sky using the 305m telescope and the seven-beam Arecibo L-band feed array (ALFA). As of May 1, 2008, almost 60% of the required observations are complete and a catalog exists in preliminary form for 25% of the final sky area. ALFALFA is detecting about twice as many HI sources as predicted based on previously published HI mass functions and should deliver a final catalog of >25000 extragalactic HI sources. ALFALFA will detect hundreds of galaxies with HI masses less than 10**7.5 solar masses and similarly large numbers greater than 10**10.3 Msun. Its centroiding accuracy allows for the immediate identification of highly probably optical counterparts to each HI detection. Fewer than 3% of all extragalactic HI sources, and < 1% of ones with HI masses > 10**9.5 Msun cannot be identified with a stellar counterpart. The hundreds of HI sources with observed line widths of 20-30 km/s include a population of optically faint dwarf galaxies. The objects with highest HI masses exhibit a range of morphologies, optical colors and surface brightnesses, but most appear to be massive disk systems. The latter represent the population likely to dominate future studies of HI at high redshift.

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arXiv2008

Conference Summary: HI Science in the Next Decade

The atomic hydrogen (HI) 21cm line measures the gas content within and around galaxies, traces the dark matter potential and probes volumes and objects that other surveys do not. Over the next decade, 21cm line science will exploit new technologies, especially focal plane and aperture arrays, and will see the deployment of Epoch of Reionization/Dark Age detection experiments and Square Kilometer Array (SKA) precursor instruments. Several experiments designed to detect and eventually to characterize the reionization history of the intergalactic medium should deliver first results within two-three years time. Although "precision cosmology" surveys of HI in galaxies at z ~ 1 to 3 require the full collecting area of the SKA, a coherent program of HI line science making use of the unique capabilities of both the existing facilities and the novel ones demonstrated by the SKA precursors will teach us how many gas rich galaxies there really are and where they reside and will yield fundamental insight into how galaxies accrete gas, form stars and interact with their environment.

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arXiv2008

HI content and other structural properties of galaxies in the Virgo cluster from the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey

We report the results of an HI blind survey of 80deg^2 of the Virgo cluster, based on the 08deg < delta < 16 deg strip of ALFALFA, the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey. 187 HI sources of high significance are found providing a complete census of HI sources in this region of the Virgo cluster (-1000 10^7.5-8 M_sun. 156/187 (83%) sources are identified with optical galaxies from the Virgo Cluster Catalogue (Binggeli et al. 1985), all but 8 with late-type galaxies. Ten sources are not associated with optical galaxies and were found to correspond to tidally-disrupted systems (see Kent et al. 2007 and Haynes, Giovanelli and Kent 2007). The remaining 21 (11%) are associated with galaxies that are not listed in the Virgo Cluster Catalogue. For all sources with an optical counterpart in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we analyzed i-band SDSS plates to measure optical structural parameters. We find that in the Virgo cluster: i) HI inhabits galaxies that are structurally similar to ordinary late-type galaxies; ii) their HI content can be predicted from their optical luminosity; iii) low surface brightness galaxies have low optical luminosity and contain small quantities of neutral hydrogen; iv) low surface brightness, massive Malin1 type galaxies are comfortably rare objects (less than 0.5%); v) there are no "dark-galaxies" with HI masses M_HI > 10^7.5-8 M_sun; vi) less than 1% of early-type galaxies contain neutral hydrogen with M_HI>10^7.5-8 M_sun (di Serego Alighieri et al. 2007).

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arXiv2008

ALFALFA: The Search for (Almost) Dark Galaxies and their Space Distribution

The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) survey is designed to explore the z=0 HI mass function (HIMF) over a cosmologically significant volume. ALFALFA will improve on previous determinations of the HIMF by its combination of depth, wide area and centroiding accuracy, the latter allowing, in most cases, immediate identification of the optical counterpart to each HI signal. ALFALFA will detect hundreds of galaxies with HI masses less than 10**7.5 solar masses and also greater than 10**10.5 solar masses, and its final catalog will allow investigation of the dependence of the HIMF both on local density and on galaxy morphology. Already ALFALFA confirms previous suggestions that there is no cosmologically significant population of HI-rich dark galaxies. Fewer than 3% of all extragalactic HI sources and < 1% of ones with HI masses > 10**9.5 solar masses cannot be identified with a stellar counterpart. Very preliminary results on the presence of gas-rich dwarfs in the void in front of the Pisces-Perseus supercluster suggest an underabundance of such objects compared to the predictions of numerical simulations. The objects with highest HI mass exhibit a range of morphologies and optical colors and surface brightnesses but all appear to be massive disk systems. The latter represent the population likely to dominate future studies of HI at higher redshift with the Square Kilometer Array.

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arXiv2007

The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey: V. HI Source Catalog of the Anti-Virgo Region at dec=27 degrees

We present a second catalog of HI sources detected in the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey. We report 488 detections over 135 square degrees, within the region of the sky having 22h 6.5, where the reliability of the catalog is better than 95% or (b) 5.0<S/N<6.5 and a previously measured redshift that corroborates our detection. Of the 488 objects presented here, 49 are High Velocity Clouds or clumps thereof with negative heliocentric recession velocities. These clouds are mostly very compact and isolated, while some of them are associated with large features such as Wright's Cloud or the northern extension of the Magellanic Stream. The remaining 439 candidate detections are identified as extragalactic objects and have all been matched with optical counterparts. Five of the six galaxies detected with M(HI)<10^7.5 solar masses are satellites of either the NGC672/IC1727 nearby galaxy pair or their neighboring dwarf irregular galaxy NGC784. The data of this catalog release include a slice through the Pisces-Perseus foreground void, a large nearby underdensity of galaxies. We report no detections within the void, where our catalog is complete for systems with HI masses of 10^8 solar masses. Gas-rich, optically-dark galaxies do not seem to constitute an important void population, and therefore do not suffice at producing a viable solution to the void phenomenon.

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arXiv2007

HI Cosmology in the Local Universe with ALFALFA

The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) survey is an on-going second generation blind extragalactic HI survey exploiting Arecibo's superior sensitivity, angular resolution and digital technology to conduct a census of the local HI universe over a cosmologically significant volume. As of mid-2007, ~4500 good quality extragalactic HI line sources have been extracted in ~15% of the final survey area. ALFALFA is detecting HI masses as low as 10**6 Msun and as high as 10**10.8 Msun with positional accuracies typically better than 20 arcsec, allowing immediate identification of the most probable optical counterparts. Only 3% of all extragalactic HI sources and fewer than 1% of detections with M(HI) > 10**9.5 Msun cannot be identified with a stellar component. First ALFALFA results already suggest, in agreement with previous studies, that there does not appear to be a cosmologically significant population of optically dark but HI rich galaxies. ALFALFA promises a wealthy dataset for the exploration of many issues in near-field cosmology and galaxy evolution studies, setting the stage for their extension to higher redshifts with the Square Kilometer Array (SKA).

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arXiv2007

The ALFALFA Search for (Almost) Dark Galaxies across the HI Mass Function

The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) survey is a second generation blind extragalactic HI survey currently in progess which is exploiting Arecibo's superior sensitivity, angular resolution and digital technology to derive a census of the local HI universe over a cosmologically significant volume. As of the time of this meeting, some 4500 good quality extragalactic HI line sources have been identified in about 15% of the final survey area. ALFALFA is detecting HI masses as low as 10**6 solar masses and as large as 10**10.8 solar masses with positional accuracies typically better than 20", allowing immediate identification of the most probable optical counterparts. Only 3% of all extragalactic HI sources and less than 1% of detections with HI mass 10**9.5 solar masses cannot be identified with a stellar component. Because ALFALFA is far from complete, the discussion here focuses on limitations of past surveys that ALFALFA will overcome because of its greater volume, sensitivity and reduced susceptibility to source confusion and on a sampling of illustrative preliminary results. First ALFALFA results already suggest, in agreement with previous studies, that there does not appear to be a cosmologically significant population of optically dark but HI rich galaxies. ALFALFA promises a wealthy dataset for the exploration of many issues in near-field cosmology and galaxy evolution studies, setting the stage for their extension to higher redshifts in the future with the Square Kilometer Array (SKA).

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