arXiv subjects

R. Doyon

Publications and source records attributed to R. Doyon.

83 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2001

Near-infrared [Fe II] emission from supernova remnants and the supernova rate of starburst galaxies

In an effort to better calibrate the supernova rate of starburst galaxies as determined from near-IR [Fe II] features, we report on a [Fe II] 1.644 microns line-imaging survey of a sample of 42 optically-selected SNRs in M33. A wide range of [Fe II] luminosities are observed within our sample (from less than 6 to 695 L_sun). Our data suggest that the bright [Fe II] SNRs are entering the radiative phase and that the density of the local ISM largely controls the amount of [Fe II] emission. We derive the following relation between the [Fe II] 1.644 microns line luminosity of radiative SNRs and the electronic density of the postshock gas, n_e: L_[Fe II] (L_sun) ~ 1.1 n_e (cm^-3). We also find a correlation in our data between L_[Fe II] and the metallicity of the shock-heated gas, but the physical interpretation of this result remains inconclusive, as our data also show a correlation between the metallicity and n_e. The dramatically higher level of [Fe II] emission from SNRs in the central regions of starburst galaxies is most likely due to their dense environments, although metallicity effects might also be important. The typical [Fe II]-emitting lifetime of a SNR in the central regions of starburst galaxies is found to be of the order of 10^4 yr. On the basis of these results, we provide a new empirical relation allowing the determination of the current supernova rate of starburst galaxies from their integrated near-IR [Fe II] luminosity.

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arXiv2001

Near infrared spectroscopy of starburst galaxies

(Abridged) We present new K-band spectroscopy for a sample of 48 starburst galaxies, obtained using UKIRT in Hawaii. This constitutes a fair sample of the most common types of starburst galaxies found in the nearby Universe. The variety of near infrared spectral features shown by these galaxies implies different bursts characteristics, which suggests that we survey galaxies with different star formation histories or at different stages of their burst evolution. Using synthetic starburst models, we conclude that the best ensemble of parameters which describe starburst galaxies in the nearby universe are a constant rate of star formation, a Salpeter IMF with an upper mass cutoff equal to 30 solar mass and bursts ages between 10 Myr and 1 Gyr. The model is fully consistent with the differences observed in the optical and FIR between the different types of starbursts. It suggests that HII galaxies have younger bursts and lower metallicities than SBNGs, while LIRGs have younger bursts but higher metallicities. Our observations suggest that the starburst phenomenon must be a sustained or self--sustained phenomenon: either star formation is continuous in time or multiple bursts happen in sequence over a relatively long period of time. The generality of our observations implies that this is a characteristic of starburst galaxies in the nearby Universe.

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arXiv2000

A near-IR [Fe II] line imaging survey of supernova remnants in M33

We report on the first near-IR [Fe II] line imaging survey of extragalactic SNRs. Observations of a sample of 42 objects drawn from an optically-selected catalogue of SNRs in M33 provide evidence for a wide range in the [Fe II] 1.644 microns luminosities. This can be understood as being primarily due to variations in the chemical abundances and density of the local ISM, although shock conditions may also play a significant role. We briefly discuss how these results may be used to better calibrate the supernova rate of star-forming galaxies.

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arXiv2000

Circumnuclear regions in barred spiral galaxies. I. Near-infrared imaging

We present sub-arcsecond resolution ground-based near-infrared images of the central regions of a sample of twelve barred galaxies with circumnuclear star formation activity, which is organized in ring-like regions typically one kiloparsec in diameter. We also present Hubble Space Telescope near-infrared images of ten of our sample galaxies, and compare them with our ground-based data. Although our sample galaxies were selected for the presence of circumnuclear star formation activity, our broad-band near-infrared images are heterogeneous, showing a substantial amount of small-scale structure in some galaxies, and practically none in others. We argue that, where it exists, this structure is caused by young stars, which also cause the characteristic bumps or changes in slope in the radial profiles of ellipticity, major axis position angle, surface brightness and colour at the radius of the circumnuclear ring in most of our sample galaxies. In 7 out of 10 HST images, star formation in the nuclear ring is clearly visible as a large number of small emitting regions, organised into spiral arm fragments, which are accompanied by dust lanes. NIR colour index maps show much more clearly the location of dust lanes and, in certain cases, regions of star formation than single broad-band images. Circumnuclear spiral structure thus outlined appears to be common in barred spiral galaxies with circumnuclear star formation.

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arXiv1999

The Star Formation History of the Starburst Region NGC 2363 and its Surroundings

We present HST optical images and UV spectra, as well as ground-based near-infrared images of the high surface brightness giant HII region NGC 2363 (NGC 2366-I) and its surroundings. The massive star content of the southern end of the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 2366 is investigated, with an emphasis on Wolf-Rayet and red supergiant stars, and we attempt the reconstruction of the time sequence of the most recent episode of massive star formation at the southwestern tip of the galaxy. We show that the most massive super cluster A of NGC 2363 is still embedded in dust; from the photoevaporative erosion or ``cleaning'' time scale of the associated cloud, we infer its age to be 1 Myr or less. We conclude that the star-forming complex NGC 2366-I and II is a good example of a multiple stage starburst with a characteristic age decreasing from 10 Myr to less than 1 Myr over a linear scale of 400 pc. The age sequence of the stars and the gas kinematics suggest that these powerful star formation episodes are being triggered by a small passing-by satellite.

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arXiv1999

Do galaxy mergers form elliptical galaxies? A comparison of kinematic and photometric properties

We present near-IR K-band imaging and spectroscopy of a sample of galaxy mergers, which we use to derive light profile indices, absolute magnitudes and central velocity dispersions. It is found that the light distributions of mergers more nearly resemble those of ellipticals than of bulges, but that the mergers lie well away from the Fundamental Plane defined by the ellipticals. This is interpreted as being due to enhancement of the K-band surface brightness of the mergers by a significant population of supergiant stars, and independent evidence for such a population is inferred from measurements of the depth of the 2.3 micron CO absorption feature.

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arXiv1999

A subarcsecond resolution near-infrared study of Seyfert and `normal' galaxies: I. Imaging data

We present new high-resolution near-infrared observations in the J,H and K bands, obtained to study the properties of Seyfert host galaxies. The dataset consists of images in the three bands of practically the entire CfA sample of Seyfert galaxies, and K-band images of a control sample of non-active, `normal', galaxies, matched to the Seyfert sample in the distribution of type and inclination. The spatial resolution and sampling of the new images is a factor 2 better than previously published K-band data. In this paper, we present the data in the form of profiles of surface brightness and color, ellipticity and major axis position angle, as well as greyscale maps of surface brightness in H or K and both J-H and H-K colors. We compare our surface brightness and color profiles with the literature, and find good agreement. Our data are discussed in detail in three subsequent publications, where we analyze the morphologies of Seyfert and normal hosts, quantify the strength of nonaxisymmetric features in disks and their relationship to nuclear activity, address the question of bar fraction in Seyferts and normal galaxies, and analyze the color information in the framework of emission mechanisms in Seyfert 1s and 2s, and in non-active galaxies.

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arXiv1998

A nuclear grand-design spiral within the normal disc spiral of NGC 5248

We report the discovery of trailing grand-design nuclear spiral structure in the spiral galaxy NGC 5248. Two tightly-wound red spiral arms, with widths less than 1 arcsec (~75 pc), emanate at 1 arcsec outside the quiescent nucleus of the galaxy, and can be followed for 3 arcsec, appearing to end before the radius of the circumnuclear starburst "ring", which is at 5--6 arcsec or around 400 parsec. Combining our near-infrared Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope adaptive optics results with traditional near-infrared and optical imaging, we show that spiral structure is present in this galaxy at spatial scales covering two orders of magnitude, from a hundred parsecs to 15 kpc. Comparison with a Hubble Space Telescope ultraviolet image shows how the location of the circumnuclear star formation relates to the nuclear spiral structure. We briefly discuss possible mechanisms which could be responsible for the observed nuclear grand-design spiral structure.

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arXiv1998

Near-IR Images of the Torus and Micro-Spiral Structure in NGC 1068 using Adaptive Optics

We present diffraction-limited near-IR images in J, H and K of the nucleus of NGC 1068, obtained with the Adaptive Optics system {Pueo} at CFHT. The achieved resolution (0.12") reveals several components, particularly prominent on the [J-K] image: a) an unresolved, conspicuous core (size < 9 pc); b) an elongated structure at P.A. ~102 deg, beginning to show up at radius ~ 15 pc; c) a S-shaped structure with radial extent ~ 20 pc, including a bar-like central elongation at P.A. ~ 15 deg and two short spiral arms. The K core is at the location of the putative central engine (radio source S1) : the core is likely the emission from the hot inner walls of the dust/molecular torus. The extremely red colors of the central 0.2", [J-K]=7.0, [H-K]=3.8, lead to an extinction Av > 25. The elongated structure at P.A.~ 102 deg may trace the presence of cooler dust within and around the torus. This interpretation is supported by two facts : a) the elongated structure is perpendicular to the local radio jet originating at S1; b) its direction follows exactly that of the disk of ionized gas recently found with the VLBA. The S-shaped feature suggests an extremely compact barred spiral structure, that would be the innermost of a series of nested spiral structures, as predicted by simulations. This is supported by the inner stellar distribution - deduced from the J image - which clearly follows an exponential disk with a 19 pc scale-length, precisely that expected from the rotation of a bar.

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arXiv1997

The Stellar Content Near the Galactic Center

High angular resolution J, H, K, and L' images are used to investigate the stellar content within 6 arcsec of SgrA*. The data, which are complete to K ~ 16, are the deepest multicolor observations of the region published to date.

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arXiv1997

Resolved structure in the nuclear region of the ultraluminous infrared galaxy Mrk 273

We have studied the core morphology of the ultraluminous infrared galaxy Mrk 273 by combining a high-resolution adaptive optics near-infrared image with an optical image from the Hubble Space Telescope and interferometric radio continuum data, all at spatial resolutions of 150 mas or better. The near-infrared image reveals that the nucleus has two main components, both of which have radio counterparts. The strongest component (N) shows very similar extended structure in the radio and near-infrared. It has a flat radio spectrum and is resolved into a double-lobed structure (Ne; Nw), with a separation of 90\pm5 mas (70 parsec). A similar structure is detected in the near-infrared. We identify this component as the location of the active nucleus. The second component (SW), strong in the near-infrared but relatively weak in the radio, is located $\sim1$ arcsecond to the southwest. We interpret this as an obscured starburst region associated with the merger. The radio continuum images show a third, strong, component (SE) which has previously been interpreted as a second nucleus. However, it shows no associated optical or near-infrared emission, suggesting that it is in fact a background source.

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